Lebanon accelerates contacts in confrontation of Israeli military build up
Lebanon, Politics, 8/28/1998

Lebanon continued its contacts with several major states with the objective of preventing Israel from launching a large-scale military operation against it, at a time when several Israeli ministers called for military strikes against the Lebanese economic infrastructure, including electricity, bridge and main road networks in an attempt to undermine the resolve of the Lebanese people and their commitment to national resistance.

Lebanese President Elias Hrawi expressed concern over accelerated developments in south Lebanon in light of the Israeli military escalation. During his meeting Thursday with several foreign guests, the Lebanese President said Lebanon is making contacts with several countries in order to prevent Israel from carrying out a large-scale military operation against Lebanon. He said he hoped the contacts will result in restoring the situation in south Lebanon to normalcy.

Lebanese Foreign Minister Fares Boueiz, for his part, stressed that the Israeli threats are serious and aim at diverting international public opinion from the secret negotiations being made between the Palestinian and Israeli sides. In a press conference he held on Thursday, the Lebanese FM did not rule out certain secret negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians under the patronage of US officials away from limelight.

Boueiz asserted that the Katyusha missiles launched by the Lebanese resistance against Israel were but a reaction to the repeated Israeli aggressions in which the Israeli occupation troops violated items of April Understanding agreement.

Lebanon has lodged three complaints with the April Understanding monitoring committee, which will meet on Monday in the Lebanese border town of Naqoura to discuss the recent Israeli aggressions against Lebanese civilians.

The complaints say that the Israeli occupation forces have bombarded the residential area in Jarjou' and Arab Salim towns in al-Tuffah district, Mashghara and Ein al-Tineh in the western Bekaa. The bombardment resulted in wounding seven Lebanese citizens. For its part Israel has lodged two complaints over shelling the occupation position in the occupied part of south Lebanon.

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