Police in Brazil have arrested a man accused by the United States of being one of the main financial operators of the Lebanese militant group, Hezbollah.<\/p>\n
Assad Ahmad Barakat was detained near the border with Paraguay and Argentina.<\/p>\n
He is wanted for identity theft in Paraguay, where he previously served six years in prison for tax evasion.<\/p>\n
The police in Argentina have accused Barakat of laundering $10m (\u00a37.6m) on behalf of Hezbollah at a casino in the Iguazu Falls area.<\/p>\n
Barakat, a Lebanese national, was detained in the Brazilian city of Foz do Igua\u00e7u.<\/p>\n
‘Global terrorist’<\/strong><\/p>\n The US has long expressed concern about Islamist activities among the sizeable Arab community in the region, known as the Triple Frontier.<\/p>\n The area attracts tourists from all over the world, who travel to see the waterfalls and the luxuriant tropical forest.<\/p>\n But it also has a reputation as a centre for large-scale smuggling and drug-trafficking.<\/p>\n In 2006, the US Treasury Department described Barakat as a “global terrorist” and included his name on a list of people in the Triple Frontier area who helped finance Hezbollah.<\/p>\n He was one of nine people and two companies who had their assets frozen.<\/p>\n “Assad Ahmad Barakat’s network in the Tri-Border Area is a major financial artery to Hezbollah in Lebanon,” said Adam Szubin, who was then director of the US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control.<\/p>\n Brazilian Federal Police said in a statement that he had continued to operate in Argentina, Brazil and Chile after his release from prison in Paraguay in 2008.<\/p>\n It is not clear whether he is going to be extradited to Paraguay or will face charges in Brazil.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n