Limited Army Control over Border, Hizbullah World”s “Most Effective Terrorist Group”
The U.S. government said the Lebanese army has "limited" control over the border and labeled Hizbullah the "world”s most effective terrorist organization."
A State Department report for 2008 said Iran "remained the most active state sponsor of terrorism," including supporting "terrorist" groups such as Hamas, Hizbullah and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, all of which opposed the Middle East peace process, as well as Iraq-based militants and the Taliban fighters in Afghanistan.
Iran was lumped with Syria, Sudan and Cuba as terrorism sponsors in the report, the same countries that appeared in previous annual reports.
North Korea was dropped from the blacklist in October 2008 after it struck a verbal deal with the United States aimed at verifying its nuclear disarmament, even though a formal agreement was never sealed.
"Iran”s involvement in the planning and financial support of terrorist attacks throughout the Middle East, Europe, and Central Asia had a direct impact on international efforts to promote peace, threatened economic stability in the Gulf, and undermined the growth of democracy," the report said.
It singled out the Qods Force, an elite branch of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), as the Islamic republic”s main means to cultivate and support terrorists overseas.
The Qods Force gave "weapons, training and funding" to Hamas and other Palestinian groups, Lebanon”s Hizbullah as well as Iraq-based militants and Taliban fighters in Afghanistan, the report said.
It also said the Qods Force trained the Taliban "on small unit tactics, small arms, explosives, and indirect fire weapons."
Iran broke its own pledges to help stabilize Iraq by giving "weapons, training, funding, and guidance" to Iraqi militant groups that attack U.S.-led coalition and Iraqi forces as well as Iraqi civilians, the report said.
The report also took to task Syria, which is a main supporter of Hizbullah, Hamas and other Palestinian groups.
"Throughout the year, Syria continued to strengthen ties with fellow state sponsor of terrorism, Iran," the report said.
It said "Syria has not been directly implicated in an act of terrorism since 1986," but it pointed out that the United Nations was still investigating a suspected Syrian role in the February 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
The State Department sounded more upbeat on Sudan.
Sudan generally believed it was in its interest to cooperate with U.S. efforts to thwart attacks against the United States, but yet allowed groups like Hamas to operate on its territory, the report said.
It also said that "al-Qaida-inspired elements" were also in Sudan.
The U.S. said communist Cuba, which has been under a U.S. embargo for decades, continued to "provide safe haven to several terrorists" such as members of the Basque separatist group ETA and the Colombian rebel group FARC.
But it added that some members of these groups stayed in Cuba last year after having arrived "in connection with peace negotiations with the governments of Spain and Colombia."