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KOFI ANNAN DEMANDS
IMMEDIATE CEASEFIRE in
LEBANON (MaximsNews.com,
UN) by
Max Stamper
UNITED NATIONS - / www.MaximsNews.com
UN/
- 20 July 2006
-
Kofi
Annan today called for
an immediate ceasefire
between Hezbollah and
Israel
because of the great
humanitarian crisis in Lebanon.
“Both
the deliberate targeting
by Hizbollah of Israeli
population centres with
hundreds of
indiscriminate weapons
and Israel’s disproportionate
use of force and
collective punishment of
the Lebanese people must
stop,” said Annan to
the UN Security Council
today.
Over
300 Lebanese have been
killed and at least 600
wounded – mostly
civilians, and at least
one-third are children.
“Much of the
infrastructure in Beirut
and around the country
has been destroyed,”
and he said, “Lebanon remains under an Israeli
military blockade,
imposed by sea and
air.”
So
far 28 Israelis have
been killed and over 200
wounded. “The Israeli
people who had hoped
that Israel’s withdrawal from
Lebanon
… would bring security
along their northern
border, find themselves
under constant Hezbollah
rocket attacks, which
every day reach further
into Israeli
territory,” he
continued.
Over
500,000 people have been
displaced so far because
of the conflict.
United
Nations Agencies cannot
respond with aid because
of the military attacks and thus
humanitarian conditions
have greatly worsened.
“Israeli operations
have made it impossible
for UN agencies and
their humanitarian
partners to reach almost
any part of southern
Lebanon, even to assess the
needs, let alone to
deliver the actual
assistance needed.”
He
insisted that the
abducted Israeli
soldiers “must be
released as soon as
possible, and in any
event the International
Committee of the Red
Cross (ICRC) must be
granted immediate access
to them.”
And
he insisted that the
Israeli Government
“must allow
humanitarian agencies
access to civilians. And
the democratically
elected Government of Lebanon
must be urgently
supported in its hour of
crisis.”
At
the same time, he said
that parallel and
“urgent steps” must
be undertaken for a
political framework for
a lasting settlement of
the conflict, arguing
that “most people in
the region rightly
reject a simple return
to the status quo ante,
since any truce based on
such a limited outcome
could not be expected to
last.”
He
was blunt when referring
to the findings of the
UN Crisis Team headed by
his Special Adviser
Vijay Nambiar. “Let me
be frank with the
Council. The mission’s
assessment is that there
are serious obstacles to
reaching a ceasefire, or
even to diminishing the
violence quickly.”
“A
full ceasefire remains
difficult to achieve at
this time,” he said
but the international
community must be clear
on “the need for an
immediate cessation of
hostilities, and a far
greater and more
credible effort by Israel
to protect civilians and
civilian infrastructure
while the conditions for
such a cessation are
urgently developed.”
The
UN Middle East Crisis
Team has suggested
elements including the
transfer of the Israeli
soldiers whose capture
sparked the crisis to
Lebanese authorities
under the auspices of
the ICRC, with a view to
their repatriation, and
an ensuing ceasefire.
On
the Lebanese side of the
Blue Line an expanded
peacekeeping force
should work to stabilize
the situation, work with
the Lebanese Government
by strengthening its
army, be deployed
throughout the area and
establish sovereignty
and control.
At
the same time, Lebanon’s Prime Minister
would unequivocally
confirm to the Security
Council that the Blue
Line will be respected
entirely.
The
UN and the International
Community would provide
funding for urgent aid
and reconstruction and
development while key
regional and
international actors
monitor and guarantee
the implementation of
all aspects of the
agreement, he said.
Annan
said that the trigger of
this tragedy was
Hizbollah’s
“provocative attack”
on 12 July. But the
Lebanese Government
clearly had no advance
knowledge of this
attack, which the UN
condemned at the time.
Israel has a clear right
to self-defence, he
said. He also condemned
“Hizbollah’s
reckless disregard for
the wishes of the
elected Government of
Lebanon, and for the interests
of the Lebanese people
and the wider region.”
He
condemned the excessive
use of force saying,
“a number of its
actions have hurt and
killed Lebanese
civilians and military
personnel and caused
great damage to
infrastructure.”
Annan
cited Lebanese Prime
Minister Fuad Siniora,
who said
Israel’s actions had “torn
the country to
shreds.” He also noted
the observation of the
Nambiar team that
Israel’s operations,
whatever their effect on
Hizbollah’s military
capabilities, “are
doing little or nothing
to decrease popular
support for Hezbollah in
Lebanon or the region,
but are doing a great
deal to weaken the
Government of
Lebanon.”
Annan
also expressed concern
about
Gaza, where Palestinians
“are suffering deeply,
with well over 100, many
of them civilians,
killed in the last month
alone.”
And
he called for “an
immediate cessation of
indiscriminate and
disproportionate
violence in the
Israeli-Palestinian
conflict, and a
reopening of closed
crossing-points, without
which Gaza will continue to be
sucked into a downward
spiral of suffering and
chaos, and the region
further
inflamed.” ~~~
~~~
MaximsNews.com,
An Independent Voice
from the U.N., provides
commentary and analysis
from leading world
figures: King Abdullah
II (Jordan), Sir Brian
Urquhart, Hans Blix,
Amb. Richard Holbrooke,
Anwar Ibrahim, Bianca
Jagger, Shashi Tharoor,
Kerry Kennedy, Ian
Williams, Stephen
Schlesinger, Sen.
Timothy E. Wirth, Marc
Morial, Barbara
Crossette, Amb. Pierre
Schori (Sweden), Amb.
William H. Luers, Gloria
Feldt, Jeffrey Laurenti,
Rory O'Connor, Genevieve
Stamper, Max Stamper and
others. Thomas
D. Scheidt
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