LEBANON: Government order 15,000 troops to move south to take full control, with U.N. peacekeepers, when Israeli troops withdraw

Record ID: 1525900

  • Title: LEBANON: Government order 15,000 troops to move south to take full control, with U.N. peacekeepers, when Israeli troops withdraw
  • Date: 17th August 2006
  • Summary: (BN14) BEIRUT, LEBANON (AUGUST 16, 2006) (REUTERS) LEBANESE PRIME MINISTER FOUAD SINIORA COMING OUT OF CABINET MEETING (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) PRIME MINISTER FOUAD SINIORA, SAYING: "It worked out." SINIORA WALKING AWAY (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) ENERGY MINISTER MOHAMMED FNEISH, AN OFFICIAL OF THE SHI'ITE MUSLIM HIZBOLLAH, SAYING: "We have agreed to this decision without any reservations." FNEISH WALKING AWAY INFORMATION MINISTER GHAZI ARIDI AT NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) INFORMATION MINISTER GHAZI ARIDI, SAYING: "There will not be any weapons except that of the Lebanese army and the army has clear orders from the council of ministers to implement the rules concerning any weapons. No authority but that of the state, and no weapons but that of the state. Even our brothers in Hizbollah said that (the weapons) will be in the hands of the Lebanese army." ARIDI SPEAKING (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) INFORMATION MINISTER GHAZI ARIDI, SAYING: "There will not be any confrontation between the army and our brothers in Hizbollah or the resistance in the south." SINIORA AT NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) LEBANESE PRIME MINISTER FOUAD SINIORA, SAYING: "There will not be any areas forbidden to the army, or regions out of its control, military facilities that are not that of the army's. (There will not be any) display of arms other than the army's, so that there will be no weapons outside the authority of the state of Lebanon." WIDE OF NEWS CONFERENCE
  • Embargoed: 1st September 2006 18:08
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Lebanon
  • Country: Lebanon
  • Topics: War / Fighting,Defence / Military
  • Reuters ID: LVA4OR9VMU5TXGOSHNVZ03PRN779
  • Aspect Ratio: 4:3
  • Story Text: Lebanon's government on Wednesday (August 16) ordered 15,000 troops to move south to take full control, with U.N. peacekeepers, when Israeli troops withdraw after a 34-day war with Hizbollah guerrillas.
    Officials said Lebanese troops would start deploying south of the Litani River, about 20 kilometres (13 miles) from the Israeli border, on Thursday (August 17).
    The cabinet, which includes two Hizbollah ministers, reached its decision only hours after Israel's army chief said a possible pullout from the south within 10 days depended on the Lebanese army and a beefed-up U.N. force moving in quickly.
    A cabinet statement said the army would not allow the presence of any armed group or any authority outside the jurisdiction of the state but did not mention any withdrawal of Hizbollah's fighters or the rockets they rained on northern Israel during the conflict.
    "We have agreed to this decision without any reservations," Energy Minister Mohammed Fneish, an official of the Shi'ite Muslim Hizbollah, told reporters after the cabinet meeting.
    Information Minister Ghazi Aridi said the army would confiscate any weapons found in the area, but added: "There will not be any confrontation with the brothers in Hizbollah."
    "There will not be any areas forbidden to the army, or regions out of its control, military facilities that are not that of the army's. (There will not be any) display of arms other than the army's, so that there will be no weapons outside the authority of the state of Lebanon," said Prime Minister Fouad Siniora.
    Hizbollah has promised to cooperate with Lebanese and U.N. forces, but has made clear it will keep its weapons -- although political sources say it has offered to keep them out of sight.
    Israel and Hizbollah have generally maintained a fragile truce in the south since Monday, following a U.N. Security Council resolution that authorised up to 13,000 well-armed troops to augment the 2,000-strong UNIFIL force now in Lebanon.
    A senior Israeli government official, who asked not to be named, said Israeli forces would not withdraw completely until the expanded U.N. force and Lebanese army move in.
    Before that, the official said, the army would pull back gradually to a narrow no-go zone along the border, which it could control largely with artillery, tank fire and air strikes.
    Hizbollah reiterated that it has the right to attack any Israeli forces remaining on Lebanese soil.
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