June Wednesday 21-2000:
Introduction:
In a landmark meeting, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan paid a
visit to Hizbullah Secretary General H.E Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah who warned that
the Islamic Resistance (IR) fighters will resume their struggle if Israel
continues to violate Lebanon's border. Nasrallah, also, stressed the Lebanese
hostages inside Israel's jails should be released promptly, otherwise, the
Israeli retreat will be incomplete. For its part, Annan said that the world body
takes any border violations in southern Lebanon very seriously and will work to
correct Israeli incursions into the UN-demarcated withdrawal line.
However, Amnesty International and Lebanons Follow-up committee for the
support of the Lebanese Detainees in the Israeli Prisons demanded a worldwide
denunciation of an Israeli draft bill that allows the Jewish state to detain
wartime prisoners as bargaining chips in contravention of international norms.
Hizbullah warns UN to play fair (1)
Nasrallah UN should resolve quickly
& swiftly all Israeli violations
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan left Beirut on Tuesday following a landmark
meeting with Hizbullahs
secretary-general, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, at a heavily guarded building deep
in the partys stronghold in the southern suburbs of Beirut.
The unprecedented visit by Annan was an attempt to win support from Hizbullah
for his plans to expand peacekeeping efforts throughout the South, tacitly
acknowledging the partys crucial influence in the area.
The first-ever meeting between a UN secretary-general and a Hizbullah leader
reflected in the eyes of the international community the organizations
transformation from the terrorist pariah of the 1980s to a valid and
recognized political and social-welfare institution.
Speaking to reporters after the 20-minute meeting, Annan said that he had held
good discussions with Nasrallah, covering the continued Israeli violations
of Lebanese sovereignty, socio-economic needs in the South, Lebanese detainees
in Israeli prisons and cooperation between UNIFIL, the government and
non-state actors.
Accompanying Annan was Timur Goksel, UNIFILs special adviser and spokesman.
It was a very useful and friendly meeting, very person-to-person, said
Goksel. Nasrallah offered his continued support to UNIFIL.
Nonetheless, Hizbullah called on the UN to swiftly resolve the outstanding
Israeli violations along the border and warned that failure to do so would lead
to renewed resistance attacks.
Resistance fighters fought bloody battles to reach liberation and they are
not willing to wait any longer for political mediation to eradicate these border
encroachments, a statement quoted Nasrallah as having told Annan. The
United Nations is called upon to resolve quickly and decisively all Israeli
violations because the Blue Line does not mean anything to us, he
added, referring to the UN line behind which Israel is supposed to withdraw its
forces.
ANNAN VOWS TO "CORRECT" ISRAELI
BORDER VIOLATIONS
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan vowed to pursue the issue of border violations
and Lebanese held in Israeli detention centers with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud
Barak. Annan had drawn Lebanese criticism for confirming Israel's pullout from
Lebanon before UN experts and Lebanese military officers finish their
verification of Israel's pullout from the south. Lebanon has voiced anger over
Israel's continued occupation of Lebanese land, and warned it will prevent UN
peacekeepers from deploying in the border zone and will consider Israel's
pullout incomplete if Israel does not withdraw its remaining forces from the
south.
(Future Television asking Annan: "What do you plan to do if Lebanon
continues to reject the Israeli pullout as it is now and prevents the deployment
of UN peacekeepers in southern Lebanon?" Annan responding: " I don't
think that will happen. I think.. let's be careful here not to read too much
into what is said and not said. I think what is important is we have violations
that we are dealing with. I have worked in peace-keeping areas for many years,
we have often created demilitarized zone areas.. there should not be violations,
and violations can be deliberate, sometimes somebody can stray across the border
so we will continue to have little incidents here and there even if we've
cleared the south. We have to be sure of that, but what we are going to do is be
vigilant to make sure there are no violations and UNIFIL, the government, and
non-government actors should all cooperate to keep the situation calm".)
Annan is carrying a list of violations compiled by the Lebanese Army and UN
experts with him to Israel. He will be asking Prime Minister Ehud Barak to
ensure his troops withdraw to a UN demarcated line, which Lebanon opposes as
well. The Security Council confirmed that Israel withdrew in line with
Resolution 425, which calls for a troops pullout to the international border.
But the Blue Line set up by the UN falls short of the frontier in some
locations. Annan said UN forces are investigating Israeli incursions into
Lebanon. UN officers so far confirmed that Israel had been found in violation at
two points, but said the issue will be resolved in about a day. The
Secretary-General asked Beirut to report any border violations to the UN force
which will inturn investigate alleged incursions. Lebanese officials said Annan
will report any violations to the Security Council if Israel refuses to withdraw
to the Blue Line. Annan held what was described as frosty meetings with
top Lebanese officials, who were enraged by what many in Beirut believe is UN
bias towards Israel. Annan who was met at Beirut airport by a cabinet minister
yesterday was seen off by Prime Minister Selim Hoss. Kofi Annan failed to allay
Lebanese fears over the UN's confirmation of Israel's pullout from Lebanon
despite its continued occupation of at least six patches of Lebanese territory.
The row threatens to destabilize the region and delay the deployment of UN
peacekeepers in southern Lebanon.(2)
A senior political source said that Beirut was unwilling to become embroiled in
a dispute with the UN but would continue demanding an Israeli withdrawal behind
the international border and not just the UN line of withdrawal.
The source said that Israels violations of the so-called Blue Line
should be addressed first. Then Lebanon will ask the UN
to charge a cartographic expert with rectifying the mistakes between the
Blue Line and the international border.
The source said that as far as Lebanon was concerned, UN special envoy Terje
Roed-Larsen was solely to blame for the fracas over the verification process.
Officially, Larsen, who was due to accompany Annan in Beirut, remained in New
York because his aircraft developed engine trouble shortly after departure and
was forced to return. However, sources here have said that Annan chose to leave
him behind to avoid further irritating the Lebanese, who have been incensed by
perceived bias toward Israel while setting up the Blue Line.
Meanwhile, the joint UN and
Lebanese verification team was scheduled to continue its inspection of the
border area on Wednesday, checking a stretch of the frontier near Kfar Shouba
that has remained off-limits so far due to the presence of land mines. The team
also plans to inspect an area near the Israeli settlement of Misgav Am opposite
Addaisseh.
Annan, who reportedly received Iranian assurances of a hitch-free redeployment
of UNIFIL in the South, also demanded security guarantees for the peacekeeping
troops who will now man the UN-demarcated line.
During his visit, Annan reportedly pledged to help Lebanon muster financial aid
from donor countries for the process of reversing the effects of Israels 22
years of occupation in the South and the Western Bekaa.
He reportedly promised to hold contacts with Beirut-based ambassadors of donor
states in order to hold a preliminary meeting in the next two weeks designed to
set the stage for a full-fledged donor gathering in Beirut next month.(3)
Amnesty blasts prisoner bill (4)
Amnesty International and a local activist group demanded on Tuesday worldwide
denunciation of an Israeli draft bill that allows the Jewish state to detain
wartime prisoners as bargaining chips in contravention of international norms.
Lebanons Follow-Up Committee for the Support of the Lebanese Detainees in the
Israeli Prisons published Amnestys open objection to the Israeli bill and
called on all international human watchdog groups to help launch a campaign to
defeat the bill.
London-based Amnesty International said the endorsement of the bill by the
Knesset would be a flagrant violation of the Geneva convention, of which Israel
is a signatory.
Amnesty also warned that the passing of this law would stimulate other states to
follow suit and legalize the open-ended detention of wartime prisoners without
trial or charges, which in fact is a wartime crime.
Amnesty maintained that all signatories to the Geneva pact are duty-bound to
fight the Israeli bill, which is mainly directed at keeping two senior leaders
as hostages pending the release of missing Israeli airman Ron Arad and other
Israelis missing in action.
SHEBAA
FARMS RESIDENTS DEMONSTRATE AT AIRPORT(5)
Residents of the Shebaa Farms which remain under occupation held a protest at
Beirut airport minutes before Secretary-General Annan boarded his Amman-bound
flight. They handed Annan a memorandum calling for the withdrawal of Israeli
troops from the Shebaa plateau. The Shebaa Farms were not included in the UN
withdrawal line. Annan said the Shebaa hamlets are in a zone occupied by Israel
since 1967 and are subject to Resolutions 242 and 338, which called for
Israel's retreat from occupied territories, and not Resolution 425, which called
on Israel to leave the zone it occupied in Lebanon in 1978. Israel said it
captured the territory from Syria.
BBC, AI reject Israeli excuse (6)
Israel, it seems, will not be let off so easily for killing BBC driver Abed
Taqqoush and three other civilians in south Lebanon during its withdrawal.
Both the BBC and human-rights watchdog Amnesty International have expressed
disdain for the Israeli account of the incident and have strongly hinted that
they might take legal action.
The matter is certainly not over for us, Adrian Wells who heads the BBC
investigation told The Daily Star on Tuesday. Were meeting Amnesty
International lawyers hopefully this week to look at the ways forward, either
through international or Israeli courts.
Amnesty International (AI) reported that the Israeli response was very
inadequate.
Israel said that the soldier who fired the shell that killed Taqqoush
followed procedures. Well, these procedures could be a breach of
international law, said Claudio Cordone of AI.
In a statement released last week, Israel claimed that firing the shell was a
tragic mistake and that under the operational circumstances in which
the tank crew operated, and in the light of the data that was known at the time,
the crew operated in accordance with the relevant procedures for such
situations.
On May 23, less than 24 hours before the end of Israels occupation, Taqqoush,
54, a long-time driver for foreign journalists, was killed when a tank shell
struck his car. The shell was fired by an Israeli Merkava tank located near the
settlement of Menara on the other side of the border.
Jeremy Bowen, the BBCs Middle East correspondent, and BBC cameraman Malek
Kenaan, were filming about 100 meters from the car when it was hit. Both Bowen
and Kenaan were pinned down for an hour by an Israeli machine-gunner while
Taqqoushs body remained in the blazing car.
The BBC and Amnesty International immediately launched an investigation into the
incident. At first, Israel blamed the shelling on the South Lebanon Army
militia. But eyewitnesses in Israel and video footage from both sides have
established that an Israeli tank was to blame. It wasnt until June 16 that
Israel admitted this.
In an attempt to justify the attack, Israels official said army personnel had
spotted a suspicious vehicle carrying individuals in civilian clothing, and
suspected that they were members of a Lebanese group preparing to fire an
anti-tank missile against the Israeli Army tanks and vehicles.
What the Israeli Army failed to explain, however, was how reporters could
clearly recognize the victims as civilians while the soldiers, positioned
nearby, identified them as potential terrorists.
And the questions continue: If the Israeli Army indeed thought that the
civilians were terrorists and that the camera equipment was a weapon
then why fire at the car rather than the suspects about to launch an attack, the
BBC asked.
Furthermore, the BBC asked, why would the Israeli Army allow Israeli civilians
to watch the unfolding events at the border if there was a risk of fighting in
the area?
Taqqoush was not the only victim of the final stages of Israels occupation.
Three other civilians were killed during the retreat. Groups of civilians and
reporters also came under tank fire near where Taqqoush died, suggesting that
targeting civilians was a policy rather than an isolated mistake.
We believe, based on the available evidence, that the killing of Abed
Taqqoush was either reckless or deliberate, stated Ann Cooper, the executive
director of the US-based Committee to Protect Journalists, in a letter addressed
to Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak on Monday.
The Israeli Army findings contradict or fail to explain eyewitness accounts of
events that took place on the ground, she continued. Moreover, the Israeli
Army cannot reasonably be expected to conduct an impartial investigation into
alleged misconduct by its own forces. We therefore urge you to order an
immediate and thorough independent investigation into this attack and to ensure
that its findings are made public.
If it can be proven that Israel intentionally fired at Lebanese civilians, then
according to international law, any state can take the case to court. The
soldier who fired the missile would then be held responsible for the killing,
while the Israeli government would have to compensate the victims family.
Footnotes:
1 The Daily Star, 21-6-2000
2 Future TV, 20-6-2000
3 The Daily Star, 21-6-2000
4 Same source.
5 Future TV, 20-6-2000
6 The Daily Star, 21-6-2000