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What Is Hizbullah and Iran Building in Africa, and Why?
(Ha'aretz) Ely Karmon - The recent court cases in Kenya and Nigeria convicting Iranian and Lebanese nationals on terrorism charges are just the tip of the iceberg of Hizbullah's expanding network in both East and West Africa. Iran has successfully intimidated a number of countries outside Africa not to pursue or publicize Iranian and Hizbullah operatives involved in terrorist operations in their territories. Sierra Leone, Senegal, and Ivory Coast are also home to Hizbullah operatives who are heavily involved in funding and logistics. Iran and Hizbullah, its proxy, could easily use the African continent for attacks against American and European targets there or as a platform for operations in Europe itself. The writer is the Senior Research Scholar at the Institute for Counter-Terrorism at the Interdisciplinary Center (IDC) in Herzliya.