Singh Says No Indications on Weapons Smuggling to Southern Litani
United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) spokesman Neeraj Singh doesn’t expect any change in the force’s mission, denying that there will be any downsizing in their numbers.
“There are no indications that the French contingent numbers will be reduced,” Singh told As Safir newspaper on Monday.
On Sunday he told the National News Agency: “There is also no change in the overall number of UNIFIL.”
Singh denied on Friday that the international forces had received any information on a letter French President Nicolas Sarkozy had sent to President Michel Suleiman hinting that France is reconsidering its participation in the international force.
He stressed that the security of the UNIFIL is one of the Lebanese authorities’ responsibility, noting that the probe into the attack on the French peacekeepers in the southern city of Sidon is carried out by the competent authorities in Lebanon.
On July 26, three French U.N. peacekeepers were wounded in a roadside bombing in \ Sidon, and another three suffered hearing problems.
Nobody claimed responsibility for that attack, which targeted a UNIFIL jeep on the main highway linking the capital to south Lebanon, where the 12,000-strong force is deployed.
Concerning the issue of weapons smuggling by Hizbullah to the southern Litani area, he said that there’s no “evidence” on such thing.
Asked about the border incident between Israel and the Lebanese army in which they exchanged fire in the Wazzani area, Singh said that both sides can’t overpass the UNIFIL, saying that the international forces will not allow any terrorist attack from diminishing its accomplishments over the past five years through cooperating with the Lebanese army.
He described the five years stage that followed the adoption of U.N. Security Council resolution 1701 as the quietest over the past thirty years.
“All the credit goes back to the parties that maintained peace,” the U.N. official said.
He added: “In return, the UNIFIL is facing a lot of challenges, one of them is the Israeli occupation of the northern part of Ghajar village.”
However, he said that the peacekeepers discussed the issue with all parties to ensure Israel’s withdrawal from the Lebanese part of the village.
Regarding the delineation of the maritime borders between Lebanon and Israel, Singh reiterated that the UNIFIL isn’t qualified to do the task.
He considered that its first interest is not to allow any hostile activity in the sea.
The spokesman confirmed that UNIFIL navy forces suspected that around 40 ships contained smuggled weapons, but after they were examined by the Lebanese navy and the customs no weapons were seized.
“Both sides, the Lebanese and Israeli, have agreed on discussing the issue through bilateral meetings with each of them,” the newspaper quoted him as saying.
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