Global Policy Forum

By Majdoline Hatoum

The United Nations re-iterated its call for Lebanon to implement a UN resolution calling for disarming Hizbullah, shortly after Parliament granted the country's new Cabinet the vote of confidence. Welcoming the confidence vote, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan pledged UN support for the new government and said he looked forward to implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1559.

Annan's statement came after reports that the U.S. and France had agreed to ease pressure on Lebanon to disarm the resistance party - which is considered a terrorist organization by Washington -in order to facilitate a vote of confidence by Parliament to Siniora's Cabinet.

The statement from Annan's office said: "The secretary general welcomes the vote of confidence that has formally established Lebanon's new government headed by Prime Minister Fouad Siniora. He particularly looks forward to progress towards the full implementation of all the requirements of Security Council Resolution 1559 and will continue to work closely with the parties in that regard." Resolution 1559, issued September 2004, calls for the disarmament of Hizbullah and armed Palestinian factions in refugee camps around Lebanon.

U.S. State Department spokesperson Sean McCormack said recently that the agreement came during a phone conversation between U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy last Wednesday. McCormack said the agreement came following Rice's recent visit to Lebanon, in order to "avert any adverse effect on Siniora to win a vote of confidence from the Lebanese Parliament."

However, Annan's statement raised fear of reinstating the international pressure on Lebanon to implement 1559 and disarm Hizbullah, whose Secretary General, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah is said to be heading to Iran today to meet with top Iranian officials. Hizbullah politburo member Nawwaf Musawi, who is also in charge of international relations, said pressure on Lebanon to disarm the resistance, would be "targeting the whole of Lebanon and not just Hizbullah." He said: "The resistance is a national Lebanese choice and any pressure to disarm this resistance is an attempt to disarm the Lebanese from what protects them against Israeli threats."

Musawi added: "Hizbullah is currently represented in the Cabinet, and the party's representative has taken part in drafting the Cabinet's policy statement. There is a reality in the country right now which says that the resistance should be protected, and the international community needs to respect the choice of the Lebanese people."

Meanwhile, a high ranking French source told Al-Hayat newspaper on Saturday that Syria's negative conduct against Lebanon might lead the international community to enforce further sanctions on Syria. The unidentified source told Al-Hayat: "France completely opposes the concept of changing the regime in Syria. But Damascus' policy towards Lebanon will decide the survival of the Syrian regime. If this policy remains as it is right now, the choice will be imposing international sanctions." The source added: "Syrian intelligence networks are still operating in Lebanon and closing the borders in the face of Lebanese trucks is a very important issue, which worries France, the U.S. and the international community."

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