Lebanon: Israel cannot condition withdrawal offer
Lebanon-Israel, Politics, 3/3/1998

Lebanon once again refused Israel's offer to withdraw from south Lebanon in exchange for security guarantees, saying it contained nothing new and was not even worth consideration.

The strongly-worded rejection came from Foreign Minister Fares Boueiz, who held a press conference in light of heightened Israeli talk of an Israeli withdrawal from an enclave it occupies in the south.

The debate inside Israel was renewed, as has become the custom, following clashes in southern Lebanon last week in which three Israeli soldiers were killed and seven others wounded in two days.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in his first such reference to United Nations Resolution 425, said Israel was willing to withdraw from south Lebanon in accordance with 425 in return for guarantees that Hizbullah guerrillas would not attack its northern towns.

France jumped in and offered to act as intermediary in case of a withdraw.

Resolution 425, which was adopted in 1978 after Israel's first incursion inside Lebanon, calls for an unconditional withdrawal of Israeli troops. Israel later set up the border enclave in 1985 and has been maintaining it ever since as a buffer against guerrilla attacks.

"Any security arrangements would automatically involve giving Israel free concessions and permit it to impose its conditions," Boueiz told reporters at the Foreign Ministry Monday. This, according to Boueiz, was "a trap" through which Israel aims at offering its own interpretation of the U.N. resolution.

The minister said any arrangements for a withdrawal would only be made through the United Nations. He also said he trusted France "would not fall for such Israeli maneuvers."

Previous Stories:
  Lebanese minister refutes Israeli premier's statements on withdrawal   (2/28/1998)
  Lebanese president on Israel's withdrawal from the south   (2/19/1998)
  Hizbullah warns officials against offering Israel guarantees   (2/16/1998)

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