ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — A representative from a well-known Iraqi news site on Saturday denounced a recent United States Justice Department decision to seize its website, denying any links to Iran-backed militia Kataib Hezbollah. "We have no connection or relationship with Kataib Hezbollah, and all the accusations leveled against us are false," a member of the editorial board of al-Maaloumah site told Rudaw English on Saturday, describing the US decision as unfair. The US Department of Justice announced on Thursday that it had confiscated two websites for their illegal use by Kataib Hezbollah, which is classified as a foreign terrorist organization in the US. The department stated that "almaalomah.com" and "r-m-n.net" are domain names that are owned and operated by a US company based in Virginia, and that Kataib Hezbollah utilized them illegally without obtaining a license. The source, who requested not to be named, said that the site's administration has filed a grievance with the Iraqi Journalists Syndicate, stressing that the news agency is independent, but it stands against US policies. "We reject the foreign presence in the country because it affects political decisions, and we do not want Iraq to be a battlefield," the source told Rudaw English. In August 2020, the United States took control of the Aletejah Iraqi TV website, saying that it was being used by Kataib Hezbollah to publish videos, articles, and photographs, including the Kataib flag and the words "Islamic Resistance, Kataib Hezbollah". "The internet must not be used as a recruitment tool for terrorist organizations to promote violent extremism and spread their hateful rhetoric," Raj Parekh, Acting US Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, said on Saturday. "We stand committed with our law enforcement partners to use all available resources to combat terrorism," he added. The US Treasury Department in 2009 designated Kataib Hezbollah a terrorist group for perpetrating and conducting acts of violence against the US led coalition and Iraqi security forces. The militia is part of Iraq's Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF, or al-Hashd al Shaabi in Arabic), and has been accused of committing human rights violations, and repeated attacks on US and international sites in Iraq. Al-Maaloumah is a well-known outlet in Iraq. It has changed its website address after the US suspension.
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