UN Security Council calls Syria to help Lebanon spread its sovereignty
Syria-Lebanon-UN, Politics, 1/24/2006

The UN Security Council has urged Syria to collaborate with Lebanon in order to impose its control on its lands in implementation of the requirements of UN security council resolution 1559 for 2004 pertinent to the withdrawal of all Syrian forces and its intelligence from Lebanon.

In a statement read by Tanzania's ambassador, the UN Security Council expressed its satisfaction for the partial implementation of the said resolution.

But the statement noted "regrettably that other items in this resolution are not implemented especially the dismantling of the Lebanese and foreign militias and its weapons, the imposition of the sovereignty of the Lebanese government on its lands, and carrying out free and fair elections according to the Lebanese constitutional rules without foreign intervention."

The statement expressed the concern of the UN Security Council over the information included in the report recently issued by the UN secretary general Kofi Annan talking about the increase of the flow of weapons from Syria to the various militias in Lebanon.

It called on the Syrian government to take necessary measures to prevent the flow of weapons and individuals via its borders to Lebanon.

The UN Security Council condemned the continued attacks on Lebanon as if "constituting part of a strategy to destabilize this country, threatening its people, government and the press," warning that sides responsible for these crimes will give an account for their act and will not be permitted to undermine stability, democracy and national unity in Lebanon."

Worthy mentioning that a presidential statement by the UN Security Council is not obligatory as the same with resolutions issued by the council but requires the consent of the UN Security Council 15 member states.

The UN delegate for the ME Terry Rod Larsen told journalists that this statement by the UN Security Council "demands the implementation of items of the resolution issued in 2004."

For his part, the US ambassador to the UN John Bolton said he finds in this statement "a clear sign unanimously taken by the UN Security Council on what Syria must do to abide by the UN security council resolution 1559 including dismantling the weapons of the militias which work on the Lebanese territories and permitting a free and transparent Lebanese elections in which Damascus does not interfere."

The statement did not specify a final date for acts that Lebanon or Syria should abide by.

The Syrian ambassador to the UN Faisdal Miqdad denied that his government had played any role in the flow of weapons via the Syrian- Lebanese borders. He said that Syria is working to fulfill all requirements of the UN Security Council especially those stated in UN resolution 1559.

Previous Stories:
  Nasrullah criticizes Lebanese forces accuses them of Zionism   (1/23/2006)
  Lebanese rejection for statements of President al-Assad on Shabaa farms   (1/23/2006)
  Annan announces Syria's cooperation with probe into Hariri murder   (1/21/2006)
  Syria protests over ex-UN probe chief's charges   (1/20/2006)
  New UN investigator arrival draws mixed reaction in Syria. Lebanon   (1/20/2006)

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