June Wednesday 14-2000:

Lieutenant-General Assad to Hizbullah: The relations between Syria and Hizbullah will be stronger…(1)

Hizbullah Secretary General his Eminence Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah along with a high-ranking party delegation visited the Syrian capital Damascus and met Lieutenant-General Dr Bashar al-Assad to offer condolences on the death of the late President Hafez al-Assad, "the great historic leader who stood firm like a high mountain in the face of all the hurricanes that blew in the face of our Arab and Islamic Ummah."

"The late president spent his life in confronting the "Israeli" occupation and the Zionist projects."

This visit is the least faithfulness we could offer to a man who stood firmly by the Islamic Resistance at all the stages of the confrontation against the "Israeli" enemy, embracing the Resistance with his mind and heart and defending it in all domains, his Eminence Sayyed Nasrallah told Lieutenant-General al-Assad during the visit.

Al-Assad, for his part, deeply thanked the generous visit saying that the glorious victories achieved by the Islamic Resistance in Lebanon achieved one of the biggest and greatest goals and hopes that the late president had anticipated and sought incessantly.

Allah, praised be His name, granted him the glory of seeing this victory before he died, he said.

Lieutenant-General al-Assad also underlined that the historic strong ties which have been between Syria and Hizbullah will never be severed with the death of President Hafez al-Assad, "but will be stronger and more effective than before, in line with commitment to the late president's method."

The Hizbullah delegation also met Syrian Foreign Minister Faruq al-Sharaa at the foreign ministry's headquarters and expressed condolences on the death of the great leader.

Annan arrives in Beirut on Monday…(2)

"UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan is due to arrive in Beirut on Monday as part of a regional tour aimed at consolidating verification of "Israel’s" withdrawal.
Annan will lead a delegation that includes his special envoy to the Middle East, Terje Roed- Larsen, who has been shuttling between Beirut and Tel Aviv discussing the pullout.
Annan’s tour will start in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday and take him to Iran, Lebanon, Syria, "Israel" and Egypt.
During his Lebanon visit, Annan is expected to verify the line of the withdrawal, a process which was suspended on Tuesday as Lebanese experts, led by General Amin Hoteit, traveled to Damascus for President Hafez Assad’s funeral.
However, the UN and Lebanese mapping teams are expected to resume their work on Wednesday.
Sources in the UNIFIL peacekeeping force maintained that the process of verifying the "Israeli" pullback was being delayed by “technical” hurdles.
“The line is clear-cut but there are field difficulties because the area we’re covering is rugged,” said one UNIFIL source. “Experts are forced to travel 3-4 kilometers to reach specific points along the withdrawal line.”
Annan will submit his report to the UN Security Council. It is expected to include details of Larsen’s trips to the region, which covered several contentious issues, including the dispute over the demarcation line.
Diplomatic sources in Beirut said that Annan was unlikely to depart from Larsen’s statement that the UN was only responsible for verifying the withdrawal line, not the final border demarcation.
The report will also probably include the reservation expressed by Lebanese officials over Larsen’s mission.
President Emile Lahoud had accused Larsen of working on “a fictitious line” that bears no resemblance to Lebanon’s self-declared borders.
Another issue must also be addressed: UNIFIL’s mandate and the future of the 4,500-strong multinational force. Annan is expected to call for reinforcements and enlarge UNIFIL’s zone of operations.

Footnotes:

1- Manar TV, 13-6-2000.