Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said on Friday a US accusation that his government harbours men raising funds for Hezbollah was a pretext to have him tried in international court. The United States, which has worsening ties with Chavez, said on Wednesday it was freezing the assets of two Venezuelans, including a diplomat, it linked to Hezbollah and accused Venezuela's government of protecting the two men.
"The United States (is) accusing our government, Venezuela, me of helping Lebanese movements - in the Middle East. They are trying to take me to international court to see if the world will go along with the game against us," Chavez said at a political rally in his first comments on the charge. "I think it will simply turn out badly for them if they play that kind of game," he added.
Chavez has increasingly sparred with the Bush administration this year over accusations of his ties to groups the United States calls terrorists. US Congressmen have debated blacklisting Venezuela as a state sponsor of terrorism, even though the Opec nation is one of America's biggest oil suppliers.
US officials have hardened their stance against Chavez since Colombia said in March it found FARC rebel computers showing he supported the group. Colombia has threatened to take Chavez to international court, accusing him of backing the FARC, which is fighting to topple the South American nation's government.
The Venezuelan leader denies he supports a group that both his neighbour and the United States consider terrorists. The United States has at times identified the Lebanese Muslim community on Venezuela's Caribbean island of Margarita as a threat, saying funds were raised there for the Shi'ite Muslim Hezbollah group.
Hezbollah participates in Lebanon's politics, but the United States considers it a terrorist group because of its military wing's attacks on Israel. Chavez, who wants to build an anti-US alliance, frequently accuses Washington of seeking to damage his image and says the superpower's strategy is to force him from power. The United States dismisses the charge.
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