U.S. admits Lebanon under Hizbullah and Palestinian rule
In a barely veiled reference to Hizbullah and Palestinian armed groups within Lebanon, Feltman said it was not normal for a government to surrender the decision for war or peace to a non-governmental group.
The Palestinians and Hezbullah are also in conspiracy with al Qaeda.
This development in Lebanon which I think we may see as the next ‘hot spot’ in the Middle East pretty much surrounds Israel with al Qaeda who is moving into Northern Africa and have been credited with the bombing of Egypt's Sinai Peninsula. #msg-4579110
There is evidence of Iranian-Syrian collusion to transform Lebanon into a safe haven for al Qaeda. Iran has already signaled its intention to allow its proxies to replace Arafat’s Fatah movement as the most important armed Palestinian force in Lebanon.
In addition Hezbullah and Iranian allies have been planning to take over Ein Hilweh. If Iran succeeded in capturing Ein Hilweh it would become a military base jointly operated by Iran-Hezbullah and al Qaeda. This was a development Arafat was not willing to tolerate, as it could be the last straw, causing the Americans to give Sharon the green light to take him out. #msg-4476762
It should be noted that China in essence a major supporter of Iran by way of the recently signed $100 billion plus gas deal with Iran plans to further army-to-army ties with Lebanon. #msg-4487525
-Am
Ambassador: U.S. won't change position on Lebanon Washington is 'serious' about implementing Resolution 1559
By Nayla Assaf Daily Star staff Thursday, November 18, 2004
BEIRUT: U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon, Jeffrey Feltman, insisted Condoleezza Rice's appointment as Secretary of State will not herald a change in Washington's policy regarding Lebanon, and insisted implementation of UN resolution 1559 remains "a keystone of U.S. policy."
Speaking at the Press Club Wednesday, Feltman said: "Our policy toward Lebanon will not change. Our call for the sovereignty of Lebanon will remain strong."
He added: "Many Lebanese have said to me privately that the U.S. isn't really serious about supporting Lebanon's sovereignty. I am saying this now. The U.S. is serious."
He continued: "We want to see a Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon. We want to see the process begin."
Feltman said Rice had been "very involved" in U.S. policy toward Lebanon and had played a role in drafting the U.S.- and French-sponsored UN resolution 1559, which calls for the withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon, for the disarmament of armed groups and for the respect of the Lebanese Constitution with regard to the presidential elections in May 2005.
Rice, who is tagged as a Washington hawk and is one of Bush's most trusted advisers, will replace outgoing Secretary of State Colin Powell, if she is confirmed by the U.S. Senate.
Commenting on the Syrian-orchestrated amendment of the Constitution, which led to an extension of Emile Lahoud's presidential term in September, Feltman said the U.S. is now dealing with it as a matter of fact.
"The U.S. position on the extension was clear. We did not believe that there should have been a Syrian-inspired amendment of the Constitution, but the amendment is behind us."
The ambassador said that the United States' position was not dependent on Lahoud's personality.
Feltman added if Lebanon holds free and fair general elections in May, it will relieve some of the international pressure.
"The ongoing debate [in Cabinet] over the electoral law is healthy," he said.
In a barely veiled reference to Hizbullah and Palestinian armed groups within Lebanon, Feltman said it was not normal for a government to surrender the decision for war or peace to a non-governmental group.
He said: "The Lebanese Army is a capable force. It is capable of deploying in the South. Right now, questions of war and peace are being left to non-governmental entities." He added that in a normal situation, such crucial decisions should be left to the government.
Commenting on the firing of an unclaimed Katyusha rocket into Israel earlier this week, Feltman said: "It is essential that the government of Lebanon exercise its control over the border areas to prevent such occurrences."
Earlier on Wednesday Feltman had visited Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Butros Sfeir, the spiritual leader of Christians in Lebanon, as part of his round of official visits.
Upon his visit, Feltman had said, "we are extremely worried about developments in the South [of Lebanon] and call on the government to maintain security there," in reference to the Katyusha rocket.
Feltman also expressed his country's hope that the parliamentary elections be "fair, transparent and carried out in a way that would be truly representative of the Lebanese peoples' will."
As to the issue of international monitoring for the elections, which was first suggested by the Maronite Bishops' Council last month, Feltman said that "Sfeir has already given his position on the matter and I ask those wishing to know more to ask his excellency the prelate."
UN peacekeeper among three dead in Lebanon-Israel border violence
RASHAYA, Lebanon (AFP) Jan 09, 2005 Three people, including a French UN peacekeeper, were killed Sunday in a flare-up of violence between Israeli troops and Lebanon's Hezbollah militia in the volatile border area between the two countries.
The peacekeeper's patrol was hit by shrapnel from an Israeli round near the disputed Shebaa Farms area, Lebanese police said, amid a series of retaliatory air raids triggered by a Hezbollah bomb attack that killed an Israeli soldier.
Sporadic but often deadly violence has continued across the border between the two countries, which remain technically at a state of war, despite Israel's pullout from south Lebanon almost five years ago.
A spokesman for the UN force in Lebanon said the French officer with the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO) had been killed while a Swedish observer and their Lebanese driver were wounded.
The spokesman, Milos Srwjer, said the men had come under fire from the Israeli side of the Blue Line that the United Nations drew up to serve as the border between Lebanon and Israel after the Jewish state ended its 22-year occupation in 2000.
He added however that the Israeli fire had been provoked by "shots from the Lebanese side" of the Blue Line.
In Paris, French Defence Minister Michele Alliot-Marie "paid hommage to the memory of Major Jean-Louis Valet, a French officer who died while serving to protect the peace in Lebanon, and sent her deep condolences to his family and friends," her office said.
The Israeli army confirmed that one of its troops had been killed in a Hezbollah bomb attack on Israel's northeastern border with Lebanon.
"The officer, a lieutenant and second in command of an infantry unit with the elite Golani regiment, was killed when Hezbollah detonated an explosive charge as he headed to a military position in the area," a spokesman said.
Al-Manar television, the mouthpiece of Hezbollah, reported that one officer was killed and three wounded when "our fighters blew up a very powerful charge in the path of an armoured vehicle near an Israeli position known as Zebdin in the occupied Shebaa Farms."
Al-Manar also said a Hezbollah militant had been killed during a cross-border shootout while Lebanese police reported that a civilian was wounded in a series of retaliatory Israeli air strikes.
Israeli foreign ministry spokesman David Saranga confirmed that a UN soldier was killed during an exchange of fire following the Hezbollah blast and that the incident was being investigated.
"It is deplorable that Hezbollah tries to draw attention to (Israel's) northern frontier the day democratic elections are being held," he said, referring to Sunday's vote to choose a new Palestinian leader.
The border area remains tense despite Israel's pullout from southern Lebanon after fighting a bloody guerrilla war with Hezbollah.
Hezbollah has vowed to continue "resistance" attacks until Israel evacuates Shebaa Farms, an area captured from Syria in the 1967 Middle East war but claimed by Lebanon with the consent of Damascus.
In December, the Israeli army deployed a radar system in the area capable of detecting infiltrations by unmanned spy planes from Lebanon after Hezbollah flew a drone for about 15 minutes along Israel's northern Mediterranean coast.
Hezbollah chief Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, has said the Shiite movement possessed drones that can carry explosives to strike targets deep inside Israel if the Jewish state attacks Lebanon.
Israeli air force jets regularly fly over Lebanon.
In July last year, two Israeli soldiers were killed in a Hezbollah ambush.
UNTSO became the first peacekeeping mission set up by the United Nations when it was set up in 1948. Fourteen of its observers and 17 soldiers have been killed since its inception.
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