Scalfaro in Lebanon
In a show of support for Lebanon's efforts to free itself from Israeli occupation, visiting Italian President Oscar Luigi Scalfaro on Thursday called on the Jewish state to withdraw its troops from a border strip in southern Lebanon.
Scalfaro had arrived in Lebanon Wednesday at the head of a high-level delegation for a four-day official visit. He is accompanied by his daughter, Marianna.
Scalfaro held extended talks Thursday with Lebanese President Elias Hrawi and House Speaker Nabih Berri. He also met with Lebanese Foreign Minister Fares Boueiz and Lebanese spiritual leaders.
The Italian president urged Israel to implement United Nations Resolution 425, which calls for an immediate and unconditional Israeli withdrawal from south Lebanon. However, Scalfaro said Israel had a right to a secure border with Lebanon.
"Nobody denies Israel's right in security and peace and we as friends of the Israeli people support these principles," Scalfaro said after a meeting with President Hrawi at the Baabda presidential palace.
"But this decision (Resolution 425), which provides for a free Lebanon spreading its authority on all its soil, should be respected," he said.
Meanwhile, Israeli warplanes raided a Palestinian guerrilla base near Beirut, causing no casualties. The Israeli jets fired two missiles at the base belonging to the radical Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command at Naameh, some 15 kilometers south of Beirut.
Security sources said there were no reports of casualties from the raid at noon.
On Friday, Scalfaro will address a plenary session in Parliament, after which he will visit the Italian contingent in the southern coastal town of Naqoura. Italy has some 50 peacekeeping troops in the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL). UNIFIL was created in 1978 to keep the peace in south Lebanon and help implement resolution 425.
Four Italian peacekeepers were killed earlier this year when a helicopter crashed in south Lebanon.
Italian intervention in the Israeli-resistance discussion over the exchange of Israeli soldiers' remains for Lebanese detained in Israeli prisons seems possible with Scalfaro's visit.