UNITED NATIONS: United Nations withdraws its peacekeeping mission in southern Lebanon

Record ID: 1530169

  • Title: UNITED NATIONS: United Nations withdraws its peacekeeping mission in southern Lebanon
  • Date: 29th July 2006
  • Summary: (BN14) UNITED NATIONS (FILE) (REUTERS) JOURNALISTS AT PRESS CONFERENCE
  • Embargoed: 14th August 2006 14:43
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: War / Fighting,International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVA53L2PE720NNT1D8V0W7J3OXUT
  • Aspect Ratio: 4:3
  • Story Text: The U.N. peacekeeping mission in southern Lebanon has withdrawn eight unarmed observers from two observations posts along the border with Israel, the United Nations said on Friday (July 28).
    The move brought to four the number of unoccupied U.N. bases in the area, out of a total of more than 40 outposts.
    U.N. observers had been pulled out of a base at Marun Al Ras five days earlier after an Italian peacekeeper was seriously wounded by Hizbollah small arms fire.
    A second base was left unmanned after it was destroyed by an Israeli air strike on Tuesday (July 25) that killed all four observers on duty there.
    The four dead, from Austria, Canada, China and Finland -- were part of the U.N. Truce Supervision Organization, a unit of about 155 observers under the command of the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon, known as UNIFIL, which has about 1,990 troops in the area.
    U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan invited countries interested in participating in an international force for Lebanon to gather in New York on Monday to begin planning.
    "Obviously it will be preliminary discussions because we do not have the mandate of the Security Council yet. And it is a mandate on what the troops are being asked to do that would eventually help governments make up their minds whether they participate or do not participate," Annan told reporters.
    The meeting comes less than a week after the four U.N. observers were killed by an Israeli air strike.
    "The whole unfortunate event which happened with the U.N. peacekeepers and the time it took the council to be able to react, has had a bit of a pall on them, but I hope they all realize that the urgency and the importance of what we are dealing with and we will be able to come forward with troops. As I said in Rome I had the opportunity of speaking to the Prime Minister of Israel on this issue and he was indicating to me that he couldn't believe it could be intentional, he offered his deep sorrow and seemed genuinely upset about it, which we accept. He has indicated that he is going to do an investigation. I have urged that we do a joint investigation because we will do our own investigation ad it would be best if we could do a joint investigation otherwise we will have two reports on the table," Annan added.
    Governments also were discussing a possible meeting of the U.N. Security Council at the ministerial level next week, according to Annan, to begin work on a resolution addressing the fighting between Israel and Hizbollah.
    While many potential troop-contributing countries have been invited, U.N. officials declined to identify them.
    Annan said the meeting would be able to hold only preliminary discussions because the Security Council had not yet set out a mandate for the international force, defining what the troops would be asked to do.
    Only after a mandate is approved will countries be able to decide whether they will participate or not, he said.
    Major powers have said a force could not be deployed while fighting continued and without the consent of Israel, Lebanon and the Hizbollah organization.
    The U.N. Humanitarian under secretary-general, Jan Egeland told reporters, "What we need is the cessation of hostilities that the secretary-general has proposed. I will again go back to the parties, to the Israelis, to the Lebanese and ask for at least a 72-hour start of the cessation of hostilities so that we can evacuate wounded, evacuate children, evacuate the elderly and the disabled from the crossfire in southern Lebanon."
    An international conference in Rome on Wednesday failed to reach agreement on how and when to end the fighting but did agree on the need for an international force with a Security Council mandate to secure the Israeli-Lebanese border and help Lebanon control all its territory once the conflict ended.
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