Israel and statements of the Lebanese defense minister

The Israeli daily Haaretz said on Sunday that it is probable that statements of Lebanese Defense Minister Ghazi Zeitar over the possibility of bringing the Syrian forces to south Lebanon after the withdrawal of the Israeli forces as an attempt from Damascus to halt the Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon.

The Israeli paper added that it is clear that Syria does not intend to expand its confrontation front with Israel or to adopt the role played successfully by the Hizbullah Party in south Lebanon, adding that Syria also does not want to do a favor to Israel through redeploying UN forces in south Lebanon resulting in halting the state of war between Lebanon and Israel.

The Israeli paper said that Syria is committed to the agreement of 1976 which bans the redeployment of its forces to the south of Sidon.