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Security Council votes to keep U.N. peacekeepers in Lebanon for six more months

By Edith M. Lederer, Associated Press, 7/31/2001 15:55

UNITED NATIONS (AP) The Security Council voted unanimously Tuesday to keep U.N. peacekeepers in southern Lebanon for six more months but made clear it wants to end the 23-year-old U.N. mission as quickly as possible.

The U.N. force was charged with verifying Israel's withdrawal from southern Lebanon, assisting the Lebanese government in reasserting authority in the area and helping to restore peace.

Following the May 2000 withdrawal of Israeli troops and the subsequent U.N. verification, two-thirds of its mission was completed and the council said the force was ''focusing now on the remaining task of restoring international peace and security.''

Emphasizing ''the interim nature'' of the U.N. mission, the council said it ''looks forward to the early fulfillment'' of its mandate.

Council members asked Secretary-General Kofi Annan to submit a report before the six-month extension ends Jan. 31, 2002, addressing the possibility of reconfiguring the U.N. force from a peacekeeping operation to an observer mission.

In May, Annan recommended cutting the U.N. peacekeeping force in Lebanon by more than half by next summer. The force stood at 5,800 troops in January and was reduced to 4,500 this month, and will be cut further to 3,600 by the end of November, U.N. officials said.

Israel entered Lebanon in 1978 and launched a full-scale invasion in 1982. From 1985 until its withdrawal, Israel occupied part of southern Lebanon as a buffer against guerrilla attacks on northern Israel.

In a semiannual report to the council last week, Annan urged Lebanon to deploy its army along the U.N.-drawn boundary line with Israel, an area where Hezbollah guerrillas continue to operate. He said a restoration of local administration and basic services to the population in southern Lebanon should be part of the process.

Hezbollah guerrillas, who fought Israel's 18-year presence, remain the real authority in much of the border area, despite demands from Annan and the Security Council that Lebanese troops take control of territory vacated by Israel.

Annan noted that the Lebanese government continues to maintain the position that as long as there is no comprehensive peace with Israel, its armed forces will not deploy along the so-called Blue Line.

He noted that the situation in the last six months was marked ''by general stability,'' with the exception of ongoing tensions in the Chebaa Farms, an area in the foothills of Mount Hermon that Israel captured from Syria in 1967 but that Syria now maintains is Lebanese.

In Tuesday's resolution, the council endorsed Annan's recommendations and reiterated its previous calls for the parties ''to respect fully the withdrawal line identified by the United Nations.''

The council also condemned all acts of violence and demanded a halt to air, sea and land violations of the withdrawal line.

-- Anonymous, August 01, 2001