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Syria against UN force on border
24/08/2006 11:01 - (SA)
Beirut - Syria has threatened to close its border with Lebanon if UN peacekeepers are stationed there, further complicating the struggle by world powers to agree on the make-up and role of an international force to police a fragile ceasefire.
The warning came as EU diplomats met in Brussels to prepare for a meeting on Friday of foreign ministers, which will be attended by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, to try to hammer out who will come on board.
"They will close the frontier for all traffic (if) the UN troops will be deployed" along the border, Finnish foreign minister Erkki Tuomioja told reporters following talks in Helsinki with Syrian counterpart Walid Muallem.
Muallem made no comments to reporters after the talks with Tuomioja, whose country currently holds the rotating presidency of the European Union.
Troops on border a 'hostile' act
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad also warned that deploying foreign troops along the border as envisioned under the UN resolution that led to the August 14 ceasefire would be a "hostile" act against his country.
Israeli public radio reported on Tuesday that Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has conditioned the lifting of an air and sea blockade of Lebanon on the deployment of international troops at Beirut airport and on the Syrian border.
Shipments to Hezbollah
Resolution 1701 calls on Lebanon "to secure its borders and other entry points to prevent the entry in Lebanon without its consent of arms".
An enlarged UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) would enforce an embargo on arms shipments to the Shi'ite group Hezbollah, whose capture of two soldiers on July 12 led to an Israeli onslaught and 34 days of heavy fighting.
Washington and Israel accuse Syria of acting as a transit point for shipments of arms and other supplies from Iran to Hezbollah.
Iran and Syria deny the claim.
Relations between Syria and Lebanon
Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora took issue with Assad on Wednesday, saying Lebanon would act to preserve its sovereignty and independence.
Lebanon and Syria must have mutual respect for each other because "we have no interest in being in disagreement with Syria while Syria has no interest in being in disagreement with us," he said.
Relations between Beirut and Damascus are at their lowest point since the withdrawal of Syrian forces from Lebanon in April 2005 following the murder of former Lebanese premier Rafiq Hariri.
Lebanese troops deploying
Asked whether the United States took Damascus's reservations about the troop deployment seriously, White House spokesperson Dana Perino replied: "No".
Meanwhile, Lebanese troops were deploying along the Syrian border in the north and east of the country, military sources said.
"Several brigades deployed at all the crossing points on the Mediterranean coast in the north, and as far as the Rashaya region," in the southeast, a source told AFP.
- AFP
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