Lebanon PM asks UN, Arab League to stop arms from Syria

October 11, 2007
AFP
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BEIRUT (AFP) — Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora has asked for UN and Arab League help in halting what he said was the flow of illegal arms into the country from Syria, according to a letter seen by AFP.

In a plea to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and Arab League Secretary General Amr Mussa, Siniora also accused the Shiite Muslim party Hezbollah, which is supported by both Syria and Iran, of arming opposition groups.

Lebanon requests the help of the Arab League and the United Nations to preserve its independence and stability and to protect it from domestic and foreign dangers, Siniora said in the letter.

Large quantities of armes coming from Syria entered Lebanon during the summer 2006 war (between Hezbollah guerrillas and Israel), and possibly afterwards, and have been distributed to groups close to Syria.

Our objective is to demonstrate the importance of monitoring the borders and of preventing arms contraband.

The Lebanese government urges the secretary general of the United Nations to work for the application of international resolutions relative to these questions, which are sources of concern and relevance.

Siniora did not specifically say so but he was apparently referring to UN Security Council Resolution 1701, adopted in August 2006, which brought about an end to the 34-day war that devastated Lebanon.

The resolution calls on the Lebanese government to secure its borders and other entry points to prevent the entry in Lebanon without its consent of arms or related materiel.

It also requests peacekeepers of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon to assist the government of Lebanon at its request.

The Western-backed premier also spoke of what he called the tense climate surrounding the failure of squabbling parties last month to elect a successor to Syrian-backed President Emile Lahoud, whose term expires in November.

The climate is tense and there is fear for the life of deputies from the (anti-Syrian) majority, of which a number have been assassinated, Siniora said.

The most recent murder was of Antoine Ghanem on September 19 and the premier said there is a risk of chaos spreading if the election of a new president is blocked.

Parliament has been adjourned until October 23 so that the two sides might have a further opportunity to agree on a consensus candidate to replace Lahoud.

Siniora said opposition parties are training in the handling of weapons and certain groups are apparently receiving arms from Hezbollah.

The premier also repeated claims that the Al-Qaeda-inspired group Fatah al-Islam, whose fighters held off Lebanese troops for 105 days earlier this year from inside a Palestinian refugee camp in northern Lebanon, were controlled by Syria.

Fatah al-Islam wanted to take over a vast region of northern Lebanon, attack the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon deployed in the south of the country ... The majority of its members came from Syria and received the help of pro-Syrian Palestinian groups based in Damascus.