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In this story: Frontier misplaced at points, Lebanon says Lebanon reluctant to deploy forces Conflict could be renewed over border uncertainty RELATED STORIES, SITES  |
UNITED NATIONS -- Lebanon rejected a U.N. announcement Friday that Israel had withdrawn from its territory.
Earlier in the day, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan had announced that the U.N. force in Lebanon had verified Israel's withdrawal from the southern part of the country,
But Lebanese Prime Minister Salim Hoss said Israeli forces were still in control of some areas of Lebanese territory in what he described as "a flagrant act of encroachment."
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Lebanon opposes the United Nations' demarcation of its border. "With deep regret, it appeared by Friday evening that Israel has not yet withdrawn from all Lebanese territory," Hoss said, adding, "I don't think that the secretariat-general of the United Nations would have announced the withdrawal had been completed in accordance with [Security Council] resolution 425 had it been informed of these facts."
U.N. sources said Hoss could be referring to one border position where Israelis remained in place in Lebanon and withdrew only shortly before Annan's announcement.
Lebanon had previously protested to the United Nations that the newly drawn frontier was misplaced at some points, awarding Israel small tracts of land. But U.N. cartographers say they have demarcated the 72-mile (116-kilometer) frontier according to the line fixed in 1923 by colonial France and Britain.
Lebanese President Emile Lahoud said earlier Friday, "We will consider the Israeli withdrawal to be incomplete if it is confined to a fictitious, non-existing line that does not reach the existing internationally recognized frontier," adding that the border "is not up for modification or postponement."
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Annan did not address Lahoud's comments, saying only that he was heading to the Middle East later Friday to meet leaders of all sides and "to see what the United Nations can do to consolidate and build on today's achievement."
Israel as well as Lebanon objected to the border demarcation, a report by Annan said. However, the report said: "Notwithstanding the reservations of the two governments about the withdrawal line, Israel and Lebanon have confirmed that identifying this line was the responsibility solely of the United Nations and that they will respect the line as identified."
Annan's Middle East envoy, Terje Roed Larsen, backed this, saying the Lebanese government had made clear it would "respect the decision of the United Nations as concerns the Israeli withdrawal."
Annan's announcement Friday in New York was meant to clear the way for a 4,500-strong U.N. peacekeeping mission in Lebanon to help the Lebanese government reassert its authority in the vacated area on the Lebanese-Israeli border.
In Jerusalem, a spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, Gadi Baltiansky, refused to comment on the verification, saying the government would respond either late Saturday or Sunday.
Announcing the withdrawal earlier, Annan said, "This is a happy day for Lebanon but also for Israel," Annan said. "It is a day for hope for the Middle East as a whole."
Annan said he would now like to see the Lebanese army deploy its forces in southern Lebanon, where Iranian-backed Hezbollah guerrillas are currently the de facto authority.
But hours before Annan confirmed the withdrawal, the Lebanese president, Lahoud, reiterated his country's reluctance to send its armed forces to the region.
Despite Lahoud's position, the government authorized on Thursday a force of 500 soldiers and 500 police to maintain security in the vacated areas and as a step toward regaining control from Hezbollah.
On Friday, an inspection team of U.N. and Lebanese officials returned to the Abbassiyeh area, where the border divides Lebanon from Israeli-occupied Syrian territory, a day after Israeli soldiers had fired warning shots at them.
Israel said the shooting was a mistake and apologized to the United Nations.
Once Israel's withdrawal was verified, the United Nations promised to boost its peacekeeping force in south Lebanon. Finland stepped forward Friday to make the first commitment to such an increase, saying it would up its battalion by 153 soldiers to 646. The troops would arrive in Lebanon on Sunday, the Finnish Foreign Ministry said.
Renewed conflict could come if there is uncertainty over the border. Hezbollah has warned of attacks if Israel is found to be violating Lebanese territory.
Israel had occupied a strip along the southern Lebanese border as a buffer against guerrilla attacks on its northern territory from 1985 until last month. Israel had invaded Lebanon in 1978.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
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In this story: Airstrikes condemned Call for Arab unity for Mideast peace Anti-U.S. and media protests in Beirut RELATED STORIES, SITES |
BEIRUT, Lebanon -- Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Lebanese President Emile Lahoud have issued a joint statement supporting Hezbollah guerrillas fighting Israeli occupation of a section of southern Lebanon.
"The resistance is a result, not a cause, of the occupation," the presidents said in Saturday's statement.
The support for Hezbollah came in the wake of a landmark visit by Mubarak, the first by an Egyptian head of state to Lebanon since Egypt became a republic in 1952.
Relations between Israel and Lebanon have been tense since Israeli warplanes bombed Lebanese power stations February 8, wounding at least 15 civilians.
Israel said it was retaliating against Hezbollah attacks on its troops and militia in the zone, which Israel has occupied for 15 years. Seven Israeli soldiers have been killed in the area since January 25.
The presidents condemned the airstrikes and Israeli threats of further raids if its solders were attacked. Their statement accused Israel of ignoring a 1996 understanding that forbade attacks on or from civilian areas in southern Lebanon.
It said such a policy "could lead to an escalation with unforeseen consequences."
Lahoud and Mubarak said peace in the Middle East required Israel's full withdrawal from occupied lands, including the occupied zone in Lebanon, the Golan Heights and the Palestinian territories. They said the right of Palestinian refugees to return home was also crucial.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak has threatened more reprisals if attacks continue, and Foreign Minister David Levy has said Lebanon's "soil will burn" if Hezbollah fighters fire rockets into northern Israel.
Egypt's Middle East News Agency quoted Mubarak as saying that he raised the issue in a phone call to Barak earlier this week, but the Israeli leader denied he was targeting civilians.
MENA said Mubarak replied, "You are striking against civilians in Beirut, hospitals, installations and infrastructure," adding that Barak did not respond. According to the agency, Mubarak continued, "This behavior is rejected and unacceptable."
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Call for Arab unity for Mideast peace
The Egyptian government, along with other Arab states, has strongly criticized the Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon and warned they could have grave consequences for the Middle East peace process.
Before flying to Beirut, Mubarak met Jordanian Prime Minister Abdur Ra'uf S. Rawabdeh in Cairo. Rawabdeh told reporters that he and Mubarak agreed that the peace process must go forward to ensure that "the Arabs are afforded all their rights and that Palestinian and occupied Arab lands are returned."
He said the two leaders agreed that the Palestinian people have a right to self-determination in an independent state with Jerusalem as its capital.
A united Arab stand was needed to combat "the aggression, which negatively affects the peace process," Mubarak said.
Iran joined in the support as Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi said on Saturday that Lebanon has the right to resist Israeli attacks on its civilians and infrastructure. Those attacks, he said, flouted the 1996 understanding.
"We believe this is the legitimate right of Lebanese people, to resist aggression," Kharrazi said at a news conference while in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Massive protests in Lebanon on Friday against the United States and U.S. media provided the backdrop to Mubarak's visit to Beirut.
The protesters' anger was fueled by what they said is U.S. support for last week's Israeli air raids.
Security forces sealed off a large area in the center of Beirut and fired tear gas at protesters trying to break through their lines. Riot police broke up violent protests outside the U.S. Embassy north of Beirut in Alka, where angry students hurled rocks and tomatoes at police and soldiers.
On Saturday, Lebanese Prime Minister Salim Hoss criticized the protesters' call for U.S. Ambassador David Satterfield's expulsion. He said targeting an ambassador was "inappropriate."
Hoss had previously supported the protesters, and his about-face is seen as a move to avoid damaging U.S.-Lebanese relations.
The demonstrators also gathered at the Beirut news bureau of CNN, which some youth organizations accused of pro-Israeli bias. Police used tear gas and water cannons to control the crowd of hundreds of protesters at the cable network's offices.
Inside Israel itself, the movement to force an earlier withdrawal from southern Lebanon is growing. Leaders of the so-called Four Mothers Movement, who urge that the Israeli Army get out of southern Lebanon immediately, have set up a permanent protest outside the prime minister's residence.
Nadia Kelin, of Four Mothers, said, "War is too serious a matter to be left to the men.
"But seriously, this is a country where everybody is in the army. Our husbands are in the army, our brothers, our sons. We are the only ones free to speak."
After the deaths of the seven soldiers, opinion polls show an overwhelming majority of Israelis favor withdrawal.
Underlying the swing is Barak's promise to get the army out by July. However, he is still working for such a move in the context of a peace agreement with Syria.
But Israeli officials don't think Syria is doing all it can to curtail Hezbollah activity.
Ephraim Sneh, Israeli deputy defense minister, said, "They try to prepare the negotiations by military pressure and they want to bring us to the negotiating table weak and bleeding.
"That's what's going on, and we're not going to play this game," he said.
Beirut Bureau chief Brent Sadler, Correspondent Jerrold Kessel, The Associated Pressand Reuters contributed to this report.
Embassy
of Lebanon
Washington, D.C.
ISRAELI
AGGRESSION IN LEBANON
In the last few days, Israeli warplanes have deliberately attacked 3
major power stations in Beirut, Baalbek and Tripoli, and injured more than 17
civilians in the attack. Last June,
they did the same. In both cases,
these attacks destroyed vital infrastructure, leaving much of the Lebanese
population without electricity and inflicting hardship on innocent men, women
and children as well as hospitals and schools.
By attacking civilian targets in Lebanon, Israel has violated
international law, moral principles, the U.N. Charter, and the 1996 US brokered
April Understanding between Lebanon and Israel which forbids attacks on
civilians. Israel’s deliberate attacks on civilians and civilian targets were
totally unprovoked, since they were preceded by resistance attacks against
military units occupying Lebanon which were conducted within acceptable rules of
the April Understanding. Israel’s
use of these resistance attacks as a pretext to bomb civilian targets all over
the country thus amounts to collective punishment. Furthermore, the use of US
weapons in carrying out such attacks is a gross violation of the arms export
control act PL-90-829.
Lebanon condemns these illegal aggressions against its people and calls for the US government and the international community to do the same. UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has already deplored Israel’s attack on Lebanon. Whatever the rationale, deliberate attacks on civilians and civilian targets are unjustifiable and should be strongly condemned.
In order to understand the significance of the Israeli occupation in South Lebanon and its continued aggression against the Lebanese people, it is imperative that the media cover the stories in a fair and objective manner. Lebanese-Americans, Arabs and other citizens who believe in promoting a fair press, are encouraged to monitor news reports and oppose any distorted and biased reports by calling or writing to press offices, radio and television stations. Furthermore, all are urged to write to their congressmen to express their outrage at the continued illegal occupation by Israel of Lebanese territory and at Israel’s deliberate attacks on civilians and civilian targets.
Furthermore, it is vital that the damages be repaired as soon as
possible. Doing so requires a
substantial amount of resources and efforts.
The Lebanese Government has already started the rebuilding process, in
spite of the acute shortage of means and the difficult economic situation
confronting Lebanon.
Your contribution to this effort would expedite the process and would be an eloquent expression of your solidarity with Lebanon and with the Lebanese. Together, we would prove that Lebanon is capable of resisting aggression and of rebuilding itself.
Your
support is needed, appreciated and will make a difference.
Please
send your checks to the Embassy of Lebanon, 2560 28th St., NW,
Washington, D.C. 20008, in favor of the following account:
Account
for Contributions - # 700362123
The Central Bank of Lebanon
Beirut
- Lebanon
Sincerely,
Ambassador
For more news, please refer to the following sources:
Express
your views in writing to the following:
The Embassy of Lebanon requests that you write to your congressmen to inform them of the facts and point their attention to the enormity of the Israeli aggression that has brutally targeted civilians and destroyed the electricity infrastructure with US weapons in violation of the Arms Export Control Act PL-90-829. A standard letter of complaint is available for your reference. Individual letters to the President, the Vice-President or the Secretary of State would also be appropriate and can be sent to:
Check the Arab-American Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) and the Arab-American Institute for information on legal protests against the Israeli attacks. Or contact them at aai@arab-aai.org and adc@adc.org.
Electrical Distribution Station in Jamhour
(These pictures were published in the Daily Star on February 8, 2000)
.jpg)
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BEIRUT, Lebanon (CNN) -- About 10,000 people converged on the streets of Beirut on Friday in a second day of protests against the United States and the American media.
The protesters' anger is fueled by what they perceive as American support for last week's Israeli air raids in southern Lebanon.
CNN's Beirut Bureau Chief Brent Sadler reported that security forces had sealed off a large area in the center of Beirut, and had fired several rounds of tear gas at protesters trying to break through their lines.
"Clouds of tear gas are now dispersing throughout the city, causing some obvious annoyance and disturbance to various shops and businesses around this area," Sadler said.
Earlier, riot police broke up violent protests outside the U.S. Embassy north of Beirut in Alka, where angry students hurled rocks and tomatoes at police and soldiers. The thousands of demonstrators then carried their protest to the center of the Lebanese capital.
The demonstrators also gathered at the Beirut news bureau of CNN, which some youth organizations accused of pro-Israeli bias. Police used tear gas and water cannons to control the crowd of several hundred protesters at the cable network's offices.
The demonstrators are particularly incensed at U.S. statements blaming recent clashes in southern Lebanon on Hezbollah fighters, who have been battling Israeli forces in the region for over two decades. In 1985, Israel established an occupied zone on the Lebanon side of its border. The zone, it said, was to protect northern Israel against cross-border attacks.
The protesters say the United States is too lenient with its Mideast ally, which last week launched attacks on south Lebanon's civilian infrastructure in retaliation against alleged attacks on its forces occupying southern Lebanon. Seven Israeli soldiers have been killed in fighting in southern Lebanon this year. More than 36 Lebanese civilians have been injured in Israeli reprisals.
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Critics say the Israeli move to expedite retaliation against Hezbollah, even in civilian areas, appears to contravene a 1996 accord, backed by the United States and France, banning attacks on or from such areas.
In the United States' first criticism of Israel, State Department spokesman James Rubin said that such attacks would not solve any problems.
"Such actions only add to the suffering of the people of Lebanon," Rubin said.
Rubin said, however, that the United States still questions "why, if Israel has committed to withdraw by the middle of the year, Hezbollah continues to provoke the Israelis and increase tensions?"
Berlin Bureau chief Brent Sadler, The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
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