Lahoud replies to Annan's memorandum
Lebanese President Emile Lahoud has stressed that the critical regional conditions and the regional situation need much caution and patience in reading and making assessments on matters.
Upon presiding over a meeting of the Lebanese Cabinet on Wednesday, President Lahoud added that the state of Lebanon is able to withstand all requirements on the grounds of principles necessitated by the national interest.
Earlier in the day, the Lebanese president met with the UN assistant secretary general and the general coordinator for the Middle East peace process, Terry Larsen, who delivered President Lahoud a message from UN Secretary General Kofi Annan.
The Lebanese official news agency stated the official text of the memorandum which included the content of the meeting that took place between Annan and Israeli Foreign Minister David Levy.
The reply message sent by the Lebanese President to Annan included several inquiries to which he asked for replies. These inquiries deal with the position of the UN concerning current developments, including proposals for withdrawal, UN guarantees that Israel will not violate the Lebanese land, naval and airspace or carry out aggressions in south Lebanon and inside it and whether the proposed UN forces will have the required deterrent land and sea means to implement these guarantees and who will order the implementation of the guarantees when a violation or an attack takes place.
In his message, the Lebanese president indicated the question of the Palestinian camps, how this mater can be dealt with and the role of the UN to this effect.
He indicated the losses inflicted on Lebanon as a result of the repeated Israeli aggressions against Lebanon since 1978, noting that the casualties reached thousands of dead and wounded and that material and moral losses are estimated at more than US $70 billion.
The Lebanese president questioned Annan in his memorandum who had decided to exempt Israel from compensation due from Lebanon and the Lebanese people as a result of its continued aggression against Lebanon and its violation of UN resolution 425 since 1978.
The Lebanese president also questioned whether Israel's proposal to implement UN resolution 425 came as an implementation of the UN efforts and will, a voluntary contribution from Israel side to carry out this resolution, or a result of the operations of the Lebanese resistance and the Israeli losses.
The Lebanese president stressed in his message Lebanon's commitment to a just and comprehensive peace that provides for ensuring peace for all. He said Israel's withdrawal from south Lebanon under the strikes of the Lebanese resistance is a great victory for Lebanon and UN resolution 425. It is a victory that cannot be bargained under the usual Israeli maneuvers and the absence of needed clarifications.
For his part Lebanese Prime Minister Salim al-Hoss said Lebanon will not sign in any case a settlement with Israel unless it coincides with a settlement signed with the Syrian side in the framework of cohesion between the Syrian and Lebanese tracks.
In statements he made in Beirut on Wednesday al-Hoss stressed that Israel's evacuation of the Lebanese territories according to UN resolution 425 has been Lebanon's urgent demand since it was issued in 1978, while Israel throughout this period ignored this resolution and refused to withdraw, defying the international will.
Al-Hoss added that Israel couples its withdrawal from south Lebanon with launching threats aimed at pressuring the international community to send UN forces to south Lebanon and thereby pressuring both Syria and Lebanon to give concessions.
Meanwhile, diplomatic sources at the UN stressed that Israeli Foreign Minister David Levy refused during his meeting on Tuesday in Geneva with UN Secretary General Kofi Annan to provide a clear commitment towards Israel's withdrawal from south Lebanon to the international borders.
The UN diplomatic sources told Orient Radio on Wednesday that Levy, during that meeting with the UN chief, did not give more "verbal statements" continuously repeated by the Israeli government over this matter, stressing that Levy kept the Israeli stances vague toward the implementation of UN resolution 425.
The sources continued that the UN left this meeting more vague and did not obtain clear answers over complete withdrawal from south Lebanon to the internationally-recognized borders.
On the other hand, the spokesman for UNIFIL in south Lebanon, Timor Goksil, warned against Israel keeping the pro-Israel South Lebanon Army militia inside Lebanon after the withdrawal of Israeli troops from south Lebanon.
In a statement he made on Wednesday Goksil added that an initiative as such means that the withdrawal is not complete and is just a pretext for returning tension, ruling out that the UN will be a side in such a tension.
The UN spokesman added that if the Israelis leave behind their militia allies, then their withdrawal will not be complete for implementing UN resolution 425.