Morocco voices concerns over Israel's raids on Lebanon
Morocco, Politics, 2/10/2000

Morocco is following "with great concerns" Israel's attacks against the Lebanese territory and against unarmed civilian targets and infrastructure.

Spokesman of the Moroccan foreign department said Morocco regrets that at a time the whole world was expecting a fair and overall solution to the Middle East conflict following the recent detente in the peace process and the launch of the negotiations between Israel and Syria, there is a military escalation in south Lebanon and violation of the April 1996 agreement forbidding raids against civilians.

Morocco has also expressed solidarity with the Lebanese people and called the international community to intervene rapidly and firmly to stop the violence and enforce the security council resolution 425 on the occupied Lebanese territories.

On Wednesday, Israeli planes attacked south Lebanon for the second day in retaliation for Hizbollah's killing of six Israeli soldiers over the past two weeks.

Anger at Israeli blitz on Lebanon mounted among Arab states on Wednesday.

The Arab League also condemned Israeli raids as a criminal act that goes beyond all limits and asked the international community to end the "criminal act."

The AL secretary general, Esmat Abdul Meguid, called the USA, in its capacity as sponsor of the peace process, to undertake firm measures to end the aggression and make Israel withdraw without conditions from south Lebanon.

In Jeddah, the Organization of the Islamic Conference accused Israel of trying to torpedo the peace process and expressed solidarity with the Lebanese people and government.

Gulf Arab states urged the United States to prevent any more of the Israeli air raids on Lebanon.

In Washington President Bill Clinton said he was working "very, very hard " to try to revive Middle East peace talks undermined by the fighting in Lebanon. "What we need to do is stop the violence and start the peace process again," Clinton told reporters.

France meanwhile backed calls by the United States and others for a meeting of a five-nation group monitoring the Israel-Lebanon border area and said it had already taken diplomatic action.

The monitoring group, comprising the United States, France, Lebanon, Syria and Israel, was set up to oversee a 1996 U.S.-sponsored cease-fire understanding to end an Israeli offensive in Lebanon that killed more than 200 civilians.

French Foreign Minister Hubert Vedrine, criticizing the Israeli raids, said France would send experts to help repair the damaged power stations.

In Damascus, a Syrian official said Israel's raids showed that Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak did not want peace with Arab states. Syria's sporadic peace talks with Israel, which resumed in December after a 45-month break, were suspended again last month over disagreement on what the talks should focus on first.

Palestine, who has suspended its own peace talks with Israel, condemned the raids as "state terrorism."

UAE Deputy Prime Minister Sheikh Sultan bin Zaid al-Nahayan called for "the highest degree of coordination" among Arab states to face the challenges posed by Israel, the official WAM news agency reported.

Previous Stories:
  Al-Hoss: Lebanon adheres to April Understanding   (2/9/2000)
  Moroccan premier disappointed over Israeli premier   (11/12/1999)
  Rabat, France views on peace, Iraq   (11/6/1999)

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