woensdag 6 augustus 2008

UNIFIL zal Israëlische soldaten uit handen Hezbollah proberen te houden

 
Moeten we bij de volgende Libanon Oorlog nog medelijden hebben met Libanon?
 
Last week, Lebanon's new government completed its guidelines, which stipulate that Hezbollah has the right to fight against Israel to "recover the land occupied by Israel."
 
Hezbollah krijgt aldus carte blanche van de Libanese regering om Israël nog eens aan te vallen, want men beweert - ten onrechte - dat de Syrische Sheba Farms die Israël bezet bij Libanon zouden horen.
 
UNIFIL ziet de bui uiteraard ook al hangen, en heeft zich voorgenomen te zullen proberen een nieuwe gijzeling van Israëlische soldaten te voorkomen. De vorige leidde immers tot de Tweede Libanon Oorlog, en men wil niet nog eens tussen twee vuren komen te zitten.
 
Wouter
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UNIFIL: We vow to try to rescue any soldier captured in Lebanon
 
By Yoav Stern, Haaretz Correspondent
Last update - 22:20 05/08/2008
www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1008793.html

 
The commander of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) Claudio Graziano has distributed among his troops a contingency plan in case an Israel Air Force aircraft is shot down over Lebanon, the Lebanese daily al-Akhbar reported Tuesday.

The report came amid fears that Israeli aircraft would be targeted in southern Lebanon.

According to the Lebanese newspaper, in the event that an Israeli plane is shot down, UNIFIL troops must aim to reach the pilot first, and if the pilot is captured by armed militants, they must rescue him. The plan stipulates, however, that if the pilot is captured by the Lebanese army, nothing is to be done.

The Al-Akhbar report made top headlines on the Hezbollah television station Al-Manar on Tuesday, where Hezbollah spokesmen sharply criticized the UN peace keeping force.

UNIFIL denied the Al-Akhbar report, but issued a statement saying that it was committed to UN Security Council resolution 1701, which obligates the UN force to do everything in their power to save the lives of foreign soldiers that end up inside Lebanon. The statement added that UNIFIL also pledges to turn any foreign soldier that enters Lebanon over to the Lebanese army.

Resolution 1701 effectively ended a 34-day war between Israel and Hezbollah in 2006 by setting out guidelines for both sides, and the UN force, to observe.

Last week, Lebanon's new government completed its guidelines, which stipulate that Hezbollah has the right to fight against Israel to "recover the land occupied by Israel."

While forces within Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora's western-backed coalition demanded that military action to liberate occupied lands be carried out "under the aegis of the state," now the government guidelines state that Hezbollah has what is essentially an independent right to take action.

"Lebanon, its army, its people and its resistance [Hezbollah] have the right to take action to liberate lands that have remained occupied at the Shaba Farms, the hills of Shuba village and the northern portion of the village of Ghajar, with all legitimate means possible, and to resist Israeli aggression."

The new unity government in Lebanon was established after the parliamentary majority succumbed to the demands of the opposition, headed by Hezbollah, to take control of a third of the cabinet positions, effectively granting it veto power over government decisions. The new cabinet has 30 ministers, with 11 from the opposition.

Only Labor Minister Mohammed Fneish is a member of Hezbollah.

Finalizing the new government guidelines required 14 meetings of the ministerial committee charged with preparing the document.

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