Two men have been arrested on suspicion of terrorism offences over alleged links to Hezbollah, the Lebanese terrorist group targeted by Israel in pager bomb attacks last September.
Scotland Yard’s counterterrorism command arrested a 39-year-old man on Tuesday at an address in northwest London on suspicion of preparation for acts of terrorism, being a member of a proscribed organisation and being involved in a funding arrangement for the purposes of terrorism.
Officers also arrested a 35-year-old man at an address in west London on suspicion of being a member of a proscribed organisation.
The Metropolitan Police said the investigation was largely focused on activity overseas and there was not believed to be any imminent threat to the public. It is understood that the alleged terrorist activity relates to supporting Hezbollah’s military wing.
Searches were carried out at five addresses: two in northwest London, one in west London, one in southwest London and one in Essex.
The two men were taken to a London police station and have since been released on bail until a date in mid-July.
Commander Dominic Murphy, head of Scotland Yard’s counterterrorism command, said: “Terrorism and terrorists have a global reach and impact, and the activities of terrorist groups overseas can harm communities here in the UK as well as causing devastation to those abroad.
“Our investigation remains ongoing, but I hope that these arrests show we will take robust action against anyone here whom we suspect as being involved in terrorist activity regardless of whether their activity is focused here in the UK or elsewhere.”
The 2011 census recorded 15,341 people born in Lebanon living in England, and a significant number of the community live in northwest London.
Hezbollah is a Shia Islamist terrorist group operating in Lebanon where it also has a significant political presence.
It has 13 seats in Lebanon’s 128-member parliament and controls large areas of Lebanon where it was said to have an estimated 50,000 fighters before the most recent conflict with Israel.
Most of its funding comes from Iran but its forces have been depleted after the killing by Israel of its leader Hassan Nasrallah in September last year and his expected successor, Hashem Safieddine, in October.
On September 18 and 19 Israel detonated thousands of booby-trapped pagers and walkie-talkies sold to Hezbollah by a Mossad front company, killing 42 people and injuring thousands more.
Israel invaded southern Lebanon on October 1 and agreed a ceasefire on November 27.
The British government proscribed Hezbollah’s external security organisation in 2001 under new terrorism legislation and extended the ban to include the Jihad Council and all military units in 2008.
At the time the British government was said to have back channels to the group’s political leadership but in February 2019 the whole organisation was banned by Sajid Javid, then the home secretary.
He said the group was continuing in its attempts to destabilise the Middle East and the British government was “no longer able to distinguish between their already banned military wing and the political party”.
