US Treasury targets Venezuelans for Hezbollah aid

The U.S. Treasury said on Wednesday it had moved to freeze the assets of two Venezuelans it accused of supporting Hezbollah, including a Venezuelan government diplomatic official. The Treasury said in a statement it had designated Ghazi Nasr al-Din and Fawzi Kan'an under an executive order which targets terrorists and those providing financial or material support to terrorism. The action prohibits Americans from doing business with them and freezes any assets they may have under U.S. jurisdiction. The Treasury said Nasr al-Din had served until recently as charge d'affaires at the Venezuelan Embassy in Damascus and was subsequently appointed director of political aspects at the Venezuelan Embassy in Lebanon. The Treasury action also blacklisted two Caracas-based travel agencies owned and operated by Kan'an, Biblios Travel and Hilal Travel. The Treasury said Kan'an has facilitated travel for Hezbollah members and sent money raised in Venezuela to Hezbollah officials in Lebanon. 'It is extremely troubling to see the government of Venezuela employing and providing safe harbor to Hezbollah facilitators and fund-raisers,' Adam Szubin, director of the Treasury's sanctions arm, the Office of Foreign Assets Control, said in a statement.