Guardian : UN condemns ceasefire violations

UN condemns ceasefire violations

Press Association | August 20, 2006

Israeli commandos have raided a Hezbollah stronghold deep in Lebanon, engaging in a fierce gunbattle.

The Lebanese government threatened to halt further troop deployments to protest what UN officials called a violation of the six-day-old ceasefire.

The office of UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan issued a statement, labelling the operation a violation of the UN truce.

Israel said Saturday's raid was launched to stop arms smuggling from Iran and Syria to the militant Shiite fighters. An Israeli officer was killed during the raid, and two soldiers were wounded, one seriously.

There were no signs of further clashes, but the flare-up underlined worries about the fragility of the ceasefire as the UN pleaded for nations to send troops to an international force in southern Lebanon that is to separate Israeli and Hezbollah fighters.

A contingent of 49 French soldiers landed in the south, providing the first reinforcements for the 2,000-strong UN peacekeeping mission known as UNIFIL that has been stationed in the region for years. About 200 more were expected next week.

They were the first additions to what is intended to grow into a 15,000-soldier UN force to police the truce with an equal number of Lebanese soldiers. France leads UNIFIL and already had 200 soldiers in Lebanon before the reinforcements.

But with Europe moving slowly to provide more troops, Israel warned it would continue to act on its own to enforce an arms embargo on the Lebanese guerrilla group until the Lebanese army and an expanded UN peacekeeping force are in place.

"If the Syrians and Iran continue to arm Hezbollah in violation of the resolution, Israel is entitled to act to defend the principle of the arms embargo," Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev said.

"Once the Lebanese army and the international forces are active ... then such Israeli activity will become superfluous."

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