Annan demands end to blockade

2006-08-30 07:29

Jerusalem - UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan demanded that Israel lift its air and sea blockade of Lebanon, but Israel said it would only remove the embargo once it is assured that forces deployed on Lebanon's borders can stop new weapons shipments to Hezbollah.

The Tuesday dispute was the latest threat to the fragile ceasefire that ended 34 days of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah that left much of southern Lebanon devastated.

Annan arrived in Israel from Lebanon as part of an 11-day Mideast tour intended to shore-up the truce, help Lebanon recover from the fighting and secure the release of two Israeli soldiers whose capture by Hezbollah on July 12 sparked the fighting.

'Infringement on sovereignty'

"We need to resolve the issue of the abducted soldiers very quickly," Annan said during a visit earlier on Tuesday to a UN base in south Lebanon.

"We need to deal with the lifting of the embargo - sea, land and air - which for the Lebanese is a humiliation and an infringement on their sovereignty."

In Israel, Annan met with Israeli defence minister Amir Peretz and spoke to him about lifting the blockade "as soon as possible in order to allow Lebanon to go on with normal commercial activities and also rebuild its economy," Annan said.

Arms embargo

Israel has said it will only lift the blockade once it is assured that forces deployed on Lebanon's borders can prevent Hezbollah from importing new weapons to rearm itself for another round of fighting.

Israel wants international forces to help patrol the Lebanon-Syria border to enforce an arms embargo on Hezbollah. Lebanon has said that its troops would be able to secure the border on their own.

Peretz said he told Annan about the importance of controlling the border "and the implementation of the embargo against the transfer of arms and ammunition between Syria and Lebanon".

Violations of ceasefire

Annan said Israel was responsible for most of the violations of the ceasefire over the past two weeks and appealed for everyone to work together to ensure the peace holds and "not risk another explosion in six years or 20 years".

Israeli troops are still occupying a security zone in southern Lebanon and have sporadically fought with Hezbollah fighters since the truce took effect on August 14.

International force

Israel says it won't leave until a sufficiently strong contingent of Lebanese and international troops arrives.

Annan said the UN hoped to have 5 000 soldiers in the region by Friday. That is double its pre-war number, but still far short of the 15 000 international troops who are eventually supposed to patrol the border along with 15 000 Lebanese soldiers.

"Israel will pull out once there is a reasonable level of forces there," Peretz said without elaborating what that level would be.

- AP