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Hezbollah threats worry Ban
01/03/2008 20:27 - (SA)
New York - UN chief Ban Ki-moon has raised concerns in his latest report on Lebanon over threats of open war against Israel by the Lebanese Hezbollah movement after its top commander was killed.
"I am concerned by the threats of open war against Israel by the secretary general of Hezbollah ... following the funeral of Imad Mughnieh," Ban said in his sixth report on the implementation of Security Council Resolution 1701.
That resolution was adopted to end the month-long war between Hezbollah and Israel in south Lebanon in 2006.
Last month, Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah vowed to avenge Mughnieh's death - which was blamed on Israel - by destroying the Jewish state.
Nasrallah said Mughnieh's killing in a car bombing in Damascus on February 12 was a clear sign that Israel was preparing a new war against Lebanon. Israel denies involvement Although Israel welcomed Mughnieh's death, it has denied any involvement.
"The presence of Israel is but temporary and cannot go on in the region," Nasrallah said at a ceremony to mourn Mughnieh.
"We will kill you in the fields, we will kill you in the cities, we will fight you like you have never seen before."
"This rhetoric goes against the spirit and intentions of Resolution 1701, which aims to achieve a permanent ceasefire," Ban said.
"I call upon all parties to exercise the utmost restraint and to continue to abide by their stated commitments to Resolution 1701."
In his report released this week, the UN chief also said the UN mission in south Lebanon (Unifil) had found no evidence to back up Israeli claims that Hezbollah "is significantly rebuilding its military presence and capacity inside UNIFIL's area of operations".
"To date, they (Unifil) have found no evidence of new military infrastructure in the area of operations," Ban said.
But he added that recent rocket firing incidents and attacks against Unifil "indicate that there are still hostile elements and unauthorised arms, including in the area of operations, which undermine joint efforts to implement resolution 1701".
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