Italian president visits south, calls for independence
Lebanon, Politics, 11/7/1997

Italian President Oscar Luigi Scalfaro on Friday visited south Lebanon, where Israeli forces and Lebanese guerrillas are engaged in a fierce war of attrition, and offered moral support for international peacekeepers deployed in the region since 1978.

Scalfaro's third day in Lebanon began Friday with an address to Parliament in Beirut in which he called on Israel to implement U.N. Resolution 425, which calls on Israel to withdraw its troops from south Lebanon. "Peace has a price for which everybody must pay," he said, calling on both sides to compromise for the sake of peace in the region.

Scalfaro also praised Lebanon's efforts to rebuild itself following the 1975-90 civil war and said Lebanon should continue in the path of peace and reconstruction that it has taken.

After the Parliament session, Scalfaro headed south aboard a U.N. Italian helicopter for a visit to the coastal town of Naqoura, which houses the headquarters of the United Nations Interim Force (UNIFIL) in Lebanon. Naqoura is some 4 kilometers north of the international border with Israel.

Scalfaro, along with his daughter Marianna, laid a wreath at a memorial for 216 U.N. peacekeepers killed in combat in south Lebanon since the 4,400-strong UNIFIL force was deployed in 1978 to help in the implementation of Resolution 425.

He also met with senior U.N. commanders and enjoyed a private session with the 52 Italians who operate UNIFIL's air force. Finally, Scalfaro unveiled a brass plaque in memory of four Italian pilots killed in a helicopter crash in August this year.

Timor Goksel, spokesman for the nine-nation peacekeeping force in Lebanon, said the visit by the Italian president to the South had special significance. "It serves to bring Resolution 425 back into the limelight, which is very important for us and for Lebanon," he said.

Scalfaro later visited a center for the handicapped in Sarafand, and lunched with House Speaker Nabih Berri at his residence in south Lebanon before heading back to Beirut.

Previous Stories:
  Scalfaro in Lebanon   (11/6/1997)
  Italian President in Lebanon   (11/5/1997)
  Italian president to visit Beirut Nov. 5   (10/28/1997)

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