Annan calls for early end to Lebanon blockade
ALEXANDRIA (Egypt)—Israel should lift its blockade of Lebanon within 48
hours, UN chief Kofi Annan has said as he stepped up efforts to release
Israeli prisoners and shore up a fragile truce in Lebanon.
Annan's announcement of an imminent end to the crippling nearly
eight-week air and sea blockade was the latest result obtained by the UN
secretary general on his marathon tour of the Middle East.
On Monday, Qatar became the first Arab country to pledge troops to a UN
peacekeeping force for Lebanon and the UN secretary general said he had
appointed a mediator to secure the release of two Israeli soldiers,
whose capture by the Lebanese Hezbollah militia sparked a month-long
war.
In Egypt on the latest leg of his whistle-stop tour of the Middle East,
Annan was asked by reporters after meeting President Hosni Mubarak if he
expected Israel to lift its blockade of Lebanon.
"Yes, within 48 hours," he answered Tuesday. "Because we are all working
very hard and with a bit of goodwill and reasonableness, we should be
able to resolve it within the next 48 hours."
Israel imposed its air and sea blockade on Lebanon shortly after
unleashing its 34-day offensive against Hezbollah on July 12, saying it
was aimed at preventing the Shiite militia from receiving weapons.
The Jewish state has said the blockade would be lifted once a
UN-brokered truce that went into effect on August 14 has been
implemented fully under Security Council Resolution 1701.
Among other things, the resolution calls for Hezbollah to be disarmed
and for the unconditional release of the two captive soldiers.
Annan said both Israel and Hezbollah had agreed to negotiate the release
of the two servicemen and announced he had appointed a mediator to
secure a deal.
"I'm hopeful that my facilitator will be able to work expeditiously with
the parties to come forward with an acceptable solution for both
parties," Annan said in Alexandria.
Hezbollah is demanding that Israel release Lebanese prisoners in
exchange for the soldiers but the Jewish state made it clear it would
not negotiate directly with the Shiite movement, which it considers a
terrorist organisation.
"Israel sees the Lebanese government and the UN, within the framework of
Resolution 1701, as the only ones responsible for the unconditional
release of the kidnapped soldiers," an Israeli spokeswoman said.
In an interview published Tuesday by the Lebanese newspaper As-Safir,
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said his militants would not disarm --
as demanded by the UN resolution -- but promised they would only use
their weapons if Israel attacked.
"The Resistance (the armed wing of Hezbollah) will only use its rockets
in case of an Israeli attack and war against Lebanon," he said.
More than 1,200 people were killed in Lebanon, mainly civilians, and 160
Israelis, mostly soldiers, in the 34-day conflict.
Annan also met Egyptian Foreign Minister Abul Gheit Tuesday and was
expected to hold further talks with Arab League Secretary General Amr
Mussa.
His discussions had been expected to focus on the fate of a third
Israeli soldier abducted on June 25 by Gaza militant groups, including
the armed wing of the governing Palestinian movement Hamas.
Abul Gheit told reporters Monday that the release of the soldier --
whose capture sparked a massive Israeli military onslaught on the Gaza
Strip and caused the territory's closure -- could be a matter of hours
or days.
An Israeli newspaper reported Sunday that Egypt was mediating a deal
whereby Israel could release up to 800 Palestinian prisoners in exchange
for the Israeli corporal.
Quoting unnamed security officials, Israel's mass-selling Yediot
Aharonot said Israel would release the prisoners in three stages and
that the negotiations were being held up over the timetable of the
prisoner release.
Besides Saudi Arabia, Annan has already visited Qatar, Lebanon, Jordan,
Israel, Syria and Iran as part of his regional tour. He is due in Turkey
later Tuesday after his talks in Egypt.
In Doha on Monday, Annan secured Qatar's agreement to contribute troops
to the UN peacekeeping force being deployed in south Lebanon, the first
Arab nation to do so although several Muslim states have offered help.
The troop pledge was intended to "tell the world that there is an Arab
presence, however small, and to say to Israel that we believe in this
resolution and that we want to implement it," Foreign Minister Sheikh
Hamad bin Jassem bin Jabr al-Thani said.
So far the bulk of the force, which could eventually include as many as
15,000 troops, is made up of European soldiers, with Italy and France
contributing the largest contingents.—Agencies |
