LEBANON / SAUDI ARABIA: Kofi Annan diplomacy in Middle East

Israel has asked U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan to help secure the release of two Israeli soldiers seized by Hizbollah and not to mediate negotiations to free them, Israeli officials said on Monday (September 4, 2006). Annan said on Monday he would appoint a secret envoy to work for the release of the soldiers. "A mediator is not needed," an Israeli government official said. "The U.N. resolution determines that the soldiers will be released unconditionally. The U.N. Secretary-General will assist and not mediate." The U.N. Security Council resolution that calls for a full cessation of hostilities between Israel and Hizbollah also calls, in its preamble, for the unconditional release of Israeli soldiers abducted by Hizbollah in a cross-border raid at the outset of the war. The same preamble "encourages" the settling of the issue of Lebanese prisoners detained in Israel. The abduction sparked a 34-day war between Israel and Hizbollah. Annan himself told a news conference in Saudi Arabia on Monday: "I wouldn't want to refer to it as an agreement, but I would want to say that both parties have accepted the good offices of the Secretary-General to help resolve this problem. And I will work with the parties and I will designate someone to work discreetly and quietly with them to find a solution. And I will not even tell you the name of the person, either today or tomorrow, because I want him to be able to work discreetly. "The only thing I insisted on (is) that if I am going to use my good offices, then my mediator should be the only mediator. If others get involved, we will pull out. Because you will get wires crossed, it will be very confusing, and it will not be effective. So there must be one mediator and effective channels of communication with both parties," Annan said. Referring to the ceasefire, Annan told the news conference in Jeddah: "I think what is important is that the cessation of hostilities, which was declared on the 14th of August, has on the whole held very well. But it is fragile and we need to move on as rapidly as we can to consolidate it. And this is why we are pressing ahead with rapid deployment of the international troops to assist the government and the Lebanese army to extend its authority throughout the south. "I expect that by mid-September, we will have about 5000 international troops on the ground and they will be deployed to the south with the 16,000 Lebanese troops. And with that credible force on the ground at that time, Israel should be able to withdraw its forces completely," said Annan. Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al Faisal told the same news conference: "What is required at this point in time is the unity of rank of the Lebanese to concert the regional and international efforts to support the Lebanese government to extend its sovereignty on all its territories to ensure the security and peace in Lebanon and to preserve the sovereignty and freedom of the country and to ensure the non-return to conflict." Italian soldiers began setting up a temporary camp in the south of Lebanon on Monday and were visited by head of the UN's peacekeeping mission (UNIFIL) Alain Pellegrini. The temporary base is in Borj Qalaouay where the troops will conduct operations from until a permanent base can be built. Pellegrini said the Italians are filling a gap that had existed in UNIFIL's coverage of southern Lebanon previously. "First they will occupy the zones which are still empty and not yet controlled by UNIFIL. Broadly that is between the Litani (river) and Tyre. They will take control of this zone. This will complete the UNIFIL brief which is overall responsibility for an area from the Litani to the "Blue Line". There is a gap in the North West between the Litani and Tyre which will be occupied by our friends the Italians," Pellegrini said. "This morning we had a meeting on (about) the border, (about) trying to protect (the border) meeting, and we'll hand over two new areas to the Lebanese army tomorrow afternoon, and three other ones for the middle of the week. But at the moment the process is going on still today, and normally," he added, talking about a meeting earlier that day with the Israeli and Lebanese armies. The Italians were expected to deploy east and south of the port city of Tyre as part of a contingent of 3,000 promised by Rome. Italian soldiers will make up the largest single contingent of the force known as UNIFIL II, which should eventually comprise 15,000 personnel deployed across south Lebanon after a truce halted Israel's 34-day war with Hizbollah on August 14. The troops demonstrated to Pellegrini their camouflage war paint, not because they were planning any offensives, but to show the UNIFIL head how they plan to operate in the future.

ITN Source | September 6, 2006

Tags:. .referring. .refer. .gap. .seized. .halted