wmlro.com:Lebanonese election result allows MLROs to breath a sigh of relief
The close-call in Lebanon's general election is a major relief to money laundering reporting and compliance officers across the world.
That Hezbollah did not take victory has meant that Lebanon has not become a pariah state in the way that Palestine did after electing HAMAS in free elections.
Hezbollah, like HAMAS, is a political party, a social welfare provider and through its military wing an organisation with a history of violence. As a result, it has been named by both the USA and the United Nations as a terrorist organisation.
As a result, it is illegal to transfer moneys to Hezbollah.
Had it succeeded in last weekend's elections, then Lebanon would have found, as has Palestine before it, that moneys that would be transmitted to its government for any reason would be blocked.
That would lead to widespread hardship - and to a halt to the reconstruction of both infrastructure and society destroyed by Israel's attacks on the country in 2006.
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