UN official on Hizbullah arms in Lebanon
Lebanon-UN, Politics, 12/2/2005

Ibrahim Gambari, UN Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs said two days ago at a Headquarters press conference this afternoon to share impressions from his first trip to the Middle East in his capacity as Political Affairs head.Ê At the time of the press conference, he had just emerged from a more in-depth briefing to the Security Council on the same topic.

Responding to a question on the flow of arms and personnel from Syria into Lebanon, Gambari said he had no evidence that Syria had changed its stance. He added that Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora was doing a "good balancing job" in the face of economic pressure and the presence of militia groups and others that sought to provoke disaffection.

One questioner noted that he had met with Hezbollah officials, and asked whether that had sent "the right signals." Gambari emphasized that the purpose of those meetings was to stress the need to implement Security Council resolutions, including regarding the disarmament of Hizbullah. "There was no intention to confer legitimacy on anyone," he added. Those meetings had taken place in the context of a need to touch base with all interlocutors in Lebanon, without prejudice to the United Nations' own view regarding the positions taken.

His message to those he met was that "we cannot have two sets of Lebanese: one with arms and one without arms," he said.

Asked why the officials he met in Israel were of a "lower level" compared to those he had met in other countries, Gambari said he met the Israeli National Security Adviser, and would have met the Special Adviser to the Prime Minister, as well as the President; but since his trip coincided with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's decision to leave the Likud Party, those individuals had "more important things on their mind than meeting with 'Mr. Gambari'," he said.

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