| 08 Dec 2009 |
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Netanyahu: Hizbullah is Lebanon's 'real army'
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08 December 2009
BEIRUT: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned the Lebanese government on Monday it will be held accountable for any aggression from Hizbullah after allowing the resistance to retain its weapons. He also launched a scathing attack on UN Security Council Resolution 1701, claiming it had “collapsed” and was playing no role in preventing Hizbullah stockpiling huge arsenals of rockets.
“Hizbullah is today the real Lebanese army and it has replaced Lebanon’s army as the dominant force by arming and organizing itself as a full-fledged military,” Netanyahu told parliament’s foreign affairs and defense committee.
“The Lebanese government and Hizbullah are becoming entwined and they will bear the responsibility for any attack against Israel,” a senior official who attended the meeting quoted Netanyahu as saying.
Lebanon’s cabinet statement faces a vote of confidence this week and article six – concerning Hizbullah’s right to bear arms – is one of its most controversial issues.
The ongoing debate surrounding Hizbullah’s arms is set to be discussed during the National Dialogue sessions, Prime Minister Saad Hariri said on Sunday.
Netanyahu’s comments are the latest in a string of threats fired from Tel Aviv warning the Lebanese government that Israel will not tolerate Hizbullah’s integration into Beirut’s political sphere.
Israel claims that Hizbullah has tightened its grip on southern security affairs since 2006 and maintains that the group continues to increase its weapons stockpile, receiving arms across Lebanon’s porous border with Syria.
Retired Army General Elias Hanna said the timing of Netanyahu’s outburst was designed to scrutinize the Lebanese Cabinet when its policy statement was under review.
“[Netanyahu] is trying to bypass Hizbullah and put some pressure on the government,” he said.
Hanna also disputed Netanyahu’s claim that the resistance represented the best military force in Lebanon.
“From a technical point of view, the Lebanese Army is deployed in the presence of Hizbullah in the south,” he said. “But Hizbullah is not the best army in Lebanon, nor is it the best military player in Lebanon.”
Hizbullah, however, remained the most effective armed contingent for repelling Israeli aggression, he added.
“The way Hizbullah fought against Israel is the best way to fight against Israel,” he said. “The Lebanese Army never had experience of 34 days standing against the strongest army in the Middle East.”
Netanyahu also criticized the continuing mandate of Resolution 1701, claiming it was having little or no affect on Hizbullah’s ability to launch military action.
“Resolution 1701 does not withstand the test of reality.
Resolution 1701 has collapsed,” he said.
Resolution 1701 – drafted to end Israel’s devastating July-August 2006 war on Lebanon and recently extended until August 2010 – forbids the presence of arms within Lebanon outside of state control.
“Resolution 1701, as an international agreement aimed at preventing Hizbullah’s rearmament, has totally failed. The number of rockets Hizbullah possesses today is much larger” than before the July-August war of 2006, Netanyahu added.
Andrea Tenenti, United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) deputy spokesman, told The Daily Star that as of Monday evening no official record of Netanyahu’s comments had been received.
UNIFIL does not comment on media reports and Tenenti said that all sides still supported Resolution 1701.
“We haven’t got anything official, so Israel’s commitment to [Resolution 1701] stands as before,” he said. “We have full commitment from all parties for the full implementation of Resolution 1701.”
Also on Monday, UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon Michel Williams met with Hariri in Beirut’s Grand Serail. The pair discussed the implementation of Resolution 1701 and the current situation in south Lebanon.
Responding to questioning on the issue of the northern part of the occupied village of Ghajar, Williams said he was yet to hear of concrete developments. “[Ghajar] is being discussed continually with the Israelis,” he said. “It is very clear in Resolution 1701 that Israel should withdraw from the northern part of Ghajar. The discussions are continuing and I hope soon that they will move to a conclusion.” – with AFP
Israeli PM prefers French mediation in talks with Syria
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday said that he would prefer French rather than Turkish mediation in the event indirect talks with Syria are revived.
Turkish-mediated indirect talks between Israel and Syria were broken off during the Gaza war at the turn of the year.
“We are ready for immediate negotiations without preconditions,” a senior official quoted Netanyahu as telling parliament’s foreign affairs and defense committee.
“During our meeting, French President Nicolas Sarkozy told me that the Syrians prefer Turkish mediation and I told him that we prefer either direct contacts or French mediation,” he was quoted as saying.
According to Channel 10 television, Sarkozy told Netanyahu Syrian President Bashar Assad was ready for peace talks with Israel without the Israelis first withdrawing from the key Golan Heights it occupied in 1967.
Netanyahu met Sarkozy in Paris in mid-November, and the French leader met Assad the following day.
Turkey has been Israel’s key regional ally, but relations turned sour in January when Ankara launched an unprecedented barrage of criticism of Israel’s war on Gaza in December-January.
The last round of direct peace talks between Israel and Syria broke down in 2000 when Israel baulked at the demand for the return of the whole Golan Heights. – AFP
© Copyright The Daily Star 2009.
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