The aim behind escalation in Lebanon
Lebanon-Israel, Politics, 2/21/2000

A high-ranking French source told the Lebanese daily al-Mistaqbil on Saturday that the April Understanding committee will convene its meetings very soon and that Paris is in continued contact with the United States, whose representative currently chairs the committee's rotating presidency.

The French source added that the aim behind the recent military escalation in Lebanon is not to undermine the negotiations but also to resume them.

It added if it is presumed that Syria had given the green light to Hizbullah to carry out these recent operations, that they were intended to reach a clear message in that Syria cam harm Israel and that the Syrian stipulation is returning back to June 4, 1967 border line.

The French source added, "We do not have to forget the sense of sovereignty and supremacy in Syria is very strong" and that Paris had previously said through one of its delegates to Tel Aviv what had been once stated by Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk al-Sharaa on the "right of the fishermen to fish on the banks of Tabaraya lake."

The French sources described the Israeli bombardment of the power stations in Lebanon as unequal to the operations conducted by the Hizbullah that resulted in killing Israeli soldiers, adding that in its military reaction against Lebanon, Israel avoided casualties among the Lebanese civilians.

The French source continued that the escalation was precisely controlled.

Hizbullah did not use the Katyusha in its strike, nor did Israel hit the Lebanese civilians and villages, and therefore the first and last objective of the escalation is to resume the negotiations rather than undermine them.

The French source stated that there are no fears about the peace process on the Syrian- Lebanese tracks but concern continued towards the Palestinian bottleneck.

The source asserted that the interests of the US and those of Barak are in reaching an acceptable agreement with Syria and Lebanon, especially in regard to Israel's military withdrawal from south Lebanon.

Previous Stories:
  Arab source: a Zionist plan against Syria   (2/19/2000)
  Israeli ministers welcome withdrawal in April   (2/14/2000)
  Israelis split over withdrawal from south Lebanon   (2/14/2000)

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