UN extends UNIFIL for 6 months

The UN Security Council Thursday renewed the mandate of the UN Interim Forces In Lebanon UNIFIL for more six months to expire on January 31, 1999.

This is the first extension made for UNIFIL since Israel proposed a conditional withdrawal from south Lebanon on April. The Syrian and Lebanese authorities rejected the Israeli proposal and stressed the need for unconditional withdrawal.

Western diplomats said that the UN Security Council did not discuss the Israeli proposals during the session dedicated to extending UNIFIL's presence in Lebanon.

In a separate statement read by its current chairman, Russian ambassador to the UN Sergey Lavrov, the council stressed "the urgent need" to fully implement UN resolution 425 "in all its aspects."