Reuters/Dubai
Saudi Arabia has designated two senior officials of the Lebanese Hezbollah group as terrorists, alleging their involvement in spreading "chaos and instability", state news agency SPA said on Wednesday.
SPA identified one as Khalil Youssef Harb and said he was a military commander in charge of Hezbollah's activities in Yemen. SPA named the second as Mohammed Qabalan and said he had been convicted by an Egyptian court in absentia in 2010 for activities in the country.
The agency said the kingdom had imposed financial sanctions on the two, including freezing their assets and banning Saudis from any dealings with them.
Hezbollah could not immediately be reached for comment.
"As long as Hezbollah seeks to spread chaos and instability and carries out terrorist attacks and carries out criminal and illegal activity around the world, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will continue to designate activists and leader and entities of Hezbollah and impose sanctions on them," a statement said.
The Saudi Interior Ministry in March last year designated several Islamist organisations based in the kingdom and abroad, including the Iranian-backed Hezbollah, as terrorist organisations.
Saudi Arabia has been leading a coalition of Arab states in air strikes on Houthis in Yemen, as part of a campaign to restore President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi to power.
The kingdom is also a leading supporter of rebels trying to topple Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, while Hezbollah fighters are helping to shore up his forces against groups they call terrorist.
Hezbollah has repeatedly criticised Saudi Arabia over both its military operations in Yemen and its support for rebels in Syria.
