A rchive Date
[ 10-04-2002 ]
Category
[ International Relations ]
sub-Categoy
[ Lebanon ]
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[http://canoe.ca/CNEWSTopNews/leb_apr9-ap.html
Lebanon won't open new Mideast front
By BASSEM MROUE -- The Associated Press
Tuesday, April 9, 2002
MARJAYOUN, Lebanon (AP) -- Lebanon has no intention of opening a new front against Israel in the Mideast conflict, Syria said, and the volatile border was calm Tuesday after a week of clashes between Lebanese guerrillas and Israeli soldiers.
Syrian U.N. Ambassador Mikhail Wehbe told the Security Council on Monday that Lebanon has "no intention whatsoever to open a new front." Syria is the main power broker in neighboring Lebanon.
Hezbollah guerrillas in southern Lebanon have been repeatedly attacking Israeli military targets in a disputed border area, sparking Israeli retaliation. Israel and the United States accused the Shiite guerrilla group of trying to escalate tensions amid Israeli-Palestinian fighting in the West Bank.
Wahbe said Lebanon blames Israeli "provocation" for the escalating violence, citing more than 1,000 violations of Lebanese airspace by Israeli aircraft, as well as violations of its territory and seas.
Seeking to stave off Israeli retaliation and fend off international criticism, Lebanese authorities have also arrested nine Palestinians for rocket and machine-gun attacks on northern Israel, away from the disputed Chebaa Farms region where Hezbollah has focused its attacks.
The leading Beirut newspaper An-Nahar said the nine belonged to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a radical faction. In the most recent such fire, three Katyusha rockets were fired late Monday toward the Israeli border town of Kiryat Shemona, landing in fields and causing no casualties.
Meanwhile, no clashes were reported Monday night or early Tuesday in the Chebaa Farms area, where Hezbollah has been leading the action. The latest exchanges there came early Monday, when Lebanese guerrillas attacked six Israeli posts, sparking airstrikes by Israeli warplanes and shelling.
Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah said his fighters were focusing for now on Chebaa Farms but warned of a wider confrontation.
Nasrallah said Palestinians were appealing to his group to enter the fighting to help them relieve the pressure from Israeli advances into the West Bank. Speaking to supporters in south Beirut on Monday, Nasrallah speculated Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon could be planning mass expulsions of Palestinians.
"We should be prepared to face the worst. ... We keep this choice (of weapons) for the worst-case scenario," he said.
Hezbollah is believed to possess hundreds, perhaps thousands, of Katyusha rockets that can strike deep inside Israel. Israel has accused Iran, Hezbollah's main backer, of supplying the rockets, which the guerrillas used on numerous occasions during the Israeli occupation of southern Lebanon.
Hezbollah led a campaign against Israeli troops holding south Lebanon for 18 years, until the Israeli military withdrew in 2000. Since then, the border has been largely quiet, except for occasional exchanges over the Chebaa Farms region.
Lebanon considers the Chebaa Farms area its territory. Hezbollah has vowed to liberate it. The United Nations says the territory belongs to Syria and should remain under Israeli control until Syria and Israel hold discussions.
 World Fact Book (CIA)]
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