A Lebanese-born businessman living in Venezuela denied U.S. government accusations that he has helped financed Hezbollah, saying he doesn't know anyone in the group. Fawzi Kan'an, owner of the Caracas-based travel agencies Biblos and Hilal, was accused by the U.S. Treasury Department on Wednesday of financing Hezbollah. Also accused of helping provide funding is Ghazi Nasr al Din, whom the United States identified as a Venezuelan diplomat in Lebanon.
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The U.S. government regards the Iranian- and Syrian-backed organization as a terrorist group and has no dealings with it. Any financial assets found in the United States belonging to the two must be frozen and U.S. citizens are forbidden from doing business with the men.
The Treasury Department described Kan'an as a 'significant provider' of financial support to Hezbollah.
Interviewed at his Hilal travel agency in Caracas, a street-level office with barred windows that blends in among Venezuelan businesses, Kan'an denied the U.S. accusations while fielding calls in Arabic. 'That's pure lies,' he told The Associated Press.
'What do I have to do with Hezbollah? I don't know the group, don't know anyone.'
Asked if he knows of any accounts that have been frozen, Kan'an said he does have accounts in the United States 'and they aren't frozen.' |