U.N. May Probe Syria-Lebanon Smuggling
Edith M. Lederer
April 6, 2007
Washington Post
Original Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/06/AR2007040601891.html
UNITED NATIONS -- France circulated a draft Security Council statement that expresses serious concern at mounting reports of illegal arms transfers from Syria to Lebanon and authorizes an independent mission to assess how their border is being monitored.
The proposed presidential statement, sent to council members late Thursday and obtained Friday, welcomes the Lebanese government's determination to prevent arms transfer, which are banned under a U.N. resolution that ended last summer's war between the Islamic militant group Hezbollah and Israel.
It reiterates the council's call on the Syrian government to take further measures to reinforce controls at the border, and it urges all countries, especially Syria and Iran, to enforce the arms embargo.
The council is expected to discuss the draft statement, probably next week.
The draft welcomes Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's intention to evaluate the situation along the border in cooperation with the Lebanese government and invites him to dispatch at the earliest an independent mission to fully assess the monitoring of the border.
Last Saturday, Ban warned during a visit to Lebanon that arms smuggling from Syria could threaten the cease-fire in Lebanon and urged full compliance with U.N. resolution 1701 that ended the 34-day Israeli-Hezbollah war.
There are intelligence reports that arms are smuggled. I am concerned by that kind of arms smuggling, which will destabilize the situation in Lebanon, he said.
The leading Lebanese daily An-Nahar reported that Ban told Lebanese security chiefs Israel had provided him with evidence and pictures of trucks crossing from Syria to Lebanon and unloading weapons.
Ban expressed the need for an enhanced monitoring capacity of the Lebanese armed forces to ensure that there will be no such smuggling activity.
Asked again Thursday about the arms smuggling allegations, Ban said, they should independently be assessed.
In the French draft, the Security Council would express its serious concern at mounting reports of illegal movements of arms across the Lebanese-Syrian border in violation of resolution 1701.
When the council receives recommendations from the secretary-general, the draft says it will take further steps to achieve the goals of banning the sale or transfer of arms or technical assistance to any entity or individual not authorized by the Lebanese government.
The council would also reiterate its deep concern at the continuing Israeli violations of Lebanese air space and appeal to all parties to respect the cease-fire and the U.N.-drawn boundary between Israel and Lebanon known as the Blue Line, and refrain from any provocation.
Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora, who is opposed to Hezbollah and Syrian influence, said at a news conference with Ban that the government was trying to improve its monitoring capabilities but stressed that not one single case of arms smuggling across the border with Syria has been recorded.
Hezbollah, however, has boasted that it replenished its stockpile of rockets after the war.
In February, Hezbollah acknowledged that a truckload of ammunition seized by the government belonged to the guerrilla group and demanded its release. It urged the government to abide by its own policy, proclaimed in 2005, to support the resistance in the south _ which is Lebanese shorthand for Hezbollah _ but the government refused.
The French draft expresses deep concern at statements by Hezbollah's secretary general, notably about the February arms shipment, which are an open admission of activities which would constitute a violation of resolution 1701.
It again urges Israel to provide the U.N. with detailed data on its use of cluster bombs in southern Lebanon.
The proposed statement notes with profound concern that there has been no progress on the issue of returning two Israeli soldiers abducted by Hezbollah, which triggered the war, and encourages efforts to urgently settle the issue of Lebanese prisoners detained in Israel.