LEBANON: UNITED NATIONS ENVOY URGES DIALOGUE BETWEEN PARTIES IN LEBANON TO ENSURE FREE AND FAIR ELECTIONS

Record ID: 338315

  • Title: LEBANON: UNITED NATIONS ENVOY URGES DIALOGUE BETWEEN PARTIES IN LEBANON TO ENSURE FREE AND FAIR ELECTIONS
  • Date: 7th April 2005
  • Summary: (BN10) BEIRUT, LEBANON (APRIL 6, 2005) (REUTERS) 1. MV LEBANESE SOLDIERS OUTSIDE MOVENPICK HOTEL WHERE UNITED NATIONS ENVOY TERJE ROED-LARSEN IS STAYING; SECURITY 0.11 2. LARSEN AT NEWS CONFERENCE 0.14 3. (SOUNDBITE) (English) UNITED NATIONS ENVOY TERJE ROED-LARSEN, SAYING: "Our only available instrument is dialogue with the parties. I have spoken on this matter both yesterday and this morning and I will continue this afternoon talking to all relevant parties here and I will urge them to find ways of moving forward leading to holding free and fair elections according to schedule." 4. CUTAWAY 5. (SOUNDBITE) (English) ROED-LARSEN, SAYING: "I met yesterday with both Lebanese minister of Defence and chief of the army and both reassured me that the Lebanese army indeed have the capability to safeguard the security of Lebanon and its citizens." 1.04 6. END OF NEWS CONFERENCE; SECURITY OUTSIDE HOTEL 1.18 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 22nd April 2005 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: BEIRUT, LEBANON
  • Country: Lebanon
  • Reuters ID: LVA2ON0V7248FSMUMWSPU8G8Q2KY
  • Story Text: UN envoy urges dialogue between parties in Lebanon
    to ensure free and fair elections on schedule.

    Syria and Lebanon should establish normal
    diplomatic ties, including embassies in each other's
    capitals, a United Nations envoy said on Wednesday (April
    6, 2005).

    "Our only available instrument is dialogue with the
    parties. I have spoken on this matter both yesterday and
    this morning and I will continue this afternoon talking to
    all relevant parties here and I will urge them to find ways
    of moving forward leading to holding free and fair
    elections according to schedule," Terje Roed-Larsen told a
    news conference in Beirut.

    Many Lebanese say the establishment of normal
    diplomatic relations is necessary to show that Damascus has
    finally recognised Lebanon's full sovereignty and
    independence.

    Lebanon was carved from Greater Syria in 1920 after the
    collapse of the Ottoman empire in World War One.

    Under intense global and Lebanese popular pressure,
    Syria has pledged to remove its troops and intelligence
    agents from Lebanon by April 30, meeting a key requirement
    of a Security Council resolution sponsored by the United
    States and France.

    Roed-Larsen was ending a mission to the region to
    promote implementation of the resolution, which also
    demands the dismantling and disarming of militias in
    Lebanon -- referring mainly to the Shi'ite Muslim Hizbollah
    guerrilla group.

    The envoy said U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan wanted
    Lebanon to hold parliamentary elections as scheduled.

    Wrangling between Lebanon's pro-Syrian government and
    the opposition over the formation of a new government and
    the drafting of an electoral law threatens to delay the
    polls, due to take place before parliament's term expires
    on May 31.

    The U.N. resolution was adopted in September, just
    before the mainly pro-Syrian assembly extended the term of
    President Emile Lahoud at the behest of Damascus, in the
    teeth of protests by foreign powers and Lebanese opposition leaders.

    Syria, which first sent troops to Lebanon in 1976, had
    exerted virtually unchallenged military and political
    control of its neighbour since the 1975-90 civil war.

    It conducted relations with Lebanon mainly through
    senior officials such as Vice-President Abdel-Halim Khaddam
    and then intelligence chiefs Ghazi Kanaan and Rustom
    Ghazali.

    Roed-Larsen said on Tuesday his main focus for now was
    on the Syrian pullout and the Lebanese polls, adding that
    militia disarmament would move up the agenda in the next
    six months.


  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register