April 5, 2002
Syria and Israel lashed out at each other over clashes on their border with Lebanon, with Secretary-General Kofi Annan blaming Lebanese Hizbollah guerrillas for fomenting conflict . Both Israel and Annan fear a second front may be opened across the so-called "blue line," a border marked by the United Nations after Israel ended its occupation of southern Lebanon in May 2000.
Lebanon and Syria, the power broker in Lebanon, object to the frontier, saying it should include the Israeli-occupied Shebaa Farms area, which Annan said was part of Syria. "It needs to be made clear to Hizbollah and others who may be involved that attacks across the blue line -- whether into northern Israel or into occupied Syrian territory -- are violations of Security Council resolutions and are not acceptable," Annan said.
"There seem to be efforts coming from Lebanese territory to deliberately create instability along the blue line," he said. Annan spoke to the 15-nation Security Council before it voted on a resolution demanding Israel pull out its troops from Palestinian cities "without delay." He included Israel's dispute with Lebanon and Syria in his comments, which otherwise were sharply critical of Israel.
Israeli UN Ambassador Yehuda Lancry blamed Syria, a council member, for violating resolutions by supporting Hizbollah's "illegitimate attacks" for the past six days. He said it was imperative that the council act immediately to force Lebanon, Syria and Iran, which also finances Hizbollah, to halt "illegal terrorist acts."
In reply, Syria's UN ambassador, Mikhail Wehbe, said everyone knew of his delegation's "considerable contributions" in the Security Council since becoming a member in January. Wehbe said the council resolutions, which called for Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon, had only been implemented in part, and under pressure from "the resistance," a reference to Hizbollah, which controls most of southern Lebanon.
"Up to this moment there is daily aerial violation to scare and terrify the Lebanese citizens and when the resistance responds, everything is topsy-turvy," Wehbe said. Annan telephoned Presidents Emile Lahoud of Lebanon and Bashar al-Assad of Syria on Wednesday to express his concern following appeals from Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres. that the attacks could have "alarming consequences."
Israeli troops remain in the Shebaa Farms, an uninhabited area of some 10 square miles (25 sq km), which Beirut and Damascus say is part of Lebanon. But the United Nations says it belongs to Syria unless the two nations sign a formal agreement changing the border, which they have not.
Annan has reduced UN peacekeepers in south Lebanon, saying it was Beirut's responsibility to deploy its army along the frontier. Syria has some 20,000 troops in Lebanon.
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