UN force won't stop smuggling of arms into Lebanon

By Assaf Uni, Shlomo Shamir and Aluf Benn
August 27, 2006
Haaretz
Original Source: www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/755244.html


United Nations peacekeepers will not be stationed along the Lebanese-Syrian 
border to prevent arms smuggling to Hezbollah except at Beirut's request, UN 
Secretary General Kofi Annan said Friday during the press conference at 
which the European Union announced it would contribute around 7,000 soldiers 
to the multinational force in South Lebanon.

According to Annan, Resolution 1701 does not require deploying the UN force 
to the border, unless the Lebanese government explicitly requests its help. 
Lebanon's interior minister declared Saturday that the Lebanese Army alone 
would patrol the border, but it could accept technical assistance from 
UNIFIL.

Annan's announcement followed Syrian threats last week that it would view UN 
troop deployment as a hostile act and seal the border with Lebanon, which 
is likely to have grave economic consequences for Lebanon. Israel continues 
to demand UNIFIL's deployment along the border, to cut off arms shipments 
from Syria and Iran to Hezbollah. 
 
A Foreign Ministry spokesman in Jerusalem 
said Saturday that Israel would not lift the air blockade on Lebanon unless 
UNIFIL troops were deployed to monitor its borders. This topic is expected 
to be the focus of Annan's visits this week to Damascus and Tehran.

However, the multinational force faces several additional problems besides 
the issue of the Lebanon-Syria border. 
 
Over the past two weeks, Israel has 
objected to the inclusion of 1,000 soldiers from Malaysia, Indonesia and 
Bangladesh countries with a Muslim majority that do not recognize Israel. 
Annan, however, said that these countries had expressed firm commitments 
to contribute troops. We will take the best peacekeepers where we can find 
them, he said. We don't have pools sitting in barracks you can pick and 
choose from. Annan added there were ways of using such troops while taking 
Israel's concerns into consideration.

Annan said thousands of UNIFIL soldiers would be on the ground within days, 
whereas France has pledged to send its troops within three weeks. Finland's 
foreign minister estimated that the entire beefed-up force would be deployed 
over the next two to three months.

Annan is scheduled to leave Sunday for a series of brief stops in eight 
countries of the Middle East and Persian Gulf, aimed at encouraging the 
parties involved to strengthen the cease-fire. According to sources at UN 
headquarters in New York, Annan is worried that shooting incidents and 
cease-fire violations will hold up deployment of the multinational force.

Annan is set to arrive in Israel Tuesday for meetings with Prime Minister 
Ehud Olmert and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni.

Senior UN diplomats, speaking to Haaretz off the record, expressed surprise 
at Annan's intention to visit Iran and Syria, considered Hezbollah's 
backers. 
 
Several diplomats expressed skepticism regarding the results of 
those talks, adding that Annan, whose role is associated with global peace 
and stability, should have skipped visiting countries whose policies do not 
jibe with those values.