The remarks by Marshall Billingslea, the US Treasury's assistant secretary on terror financing, came as Lebanese political factions agreed late Thursday to form a new government, breaking a nine-month deadlock that had deepened Lebanon's economic woes.
The warning underscores the delicate balance that Prime Minister Saad Hariri must strike in a national unity government in which the Iran-backed group has three seats, including the Health Ministry, which has one of the country's largest budgets.
Hariri, who hails from the country's leading Sunni political party, reportedly had cautioned against Hezbollah holding the Health Ministry amid concerns his new government could face Western sanctions. Hezbollah made significant gains at the expense of Hariri's party in Parliament elections in May, further contributing to the delay in forming a government as the powerful group lobbied for a bigger share in the cabinet.
Billingslea spoke to local journalists at the US Embassy in Beirut at the end of a two-day visit during which he met with Lebanon's president, prime minister, central bank governor and other officials.
"If we see that Hezbollah exploits, and they will exploit whatever ministry they are given, to funnel money and other terrorist agendas, then we have significant problems with that," Billingslea was quoted as saying by the English-language Daily Star newspaper on Friday. He declined to elaborate what the US Treasury would do in that case.
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