Beirut to complain to UN after Israel “kidnaps” shepherd

 
Lebanon is to complain to the UN Security Council, accusing Israel of kidnapping a shepherd from inside Lebanese territory, the prime minister”s office said on Tuesday.

 

“Prime Minister Fuad Siniora asked the concerned authorities at the Lebanese foreign ministry and at Lebanon”s delegation to the United Nations to lodge a complaint with the Security Council against Israel,” it said in a

statement.

 

The statement said the complaint came after “the kidnapping of Lebanese citizen Fadi Abdul Aal from the region of Halta,” a border area in southeast Lebanon.

 

“Investigation have revealed that the kidnapping took place from inside Lebanese territory,” it said.

On Monday, the Israeli army said it had detained a man inside Israel after he crossed the border with Lebanon. He was released hours later.

 

A Lebanese security source told AFP that the Israeli soldiers had “made an incursion of 100 metres” (yards) into Lebanese territory to abduct the man.

 

UNIFIL, the UN peacekeeping force deployed in southern Lebanon, said it had been informed of the incident by the Israeli military, and was investigating.

 

Israeli forces have in the past seized Lebanese shepherds along the border and taken them for questioning over possible links with Hezbollah militants. They are usually released after being questioned.

 

UNIFIL is tasked with monitoring the ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israeli forces following a 34-day war in July-August 2006 in which more than 1,200 Lebanese were killed, mostly civilians.

A Lebanese shepherd walks near the Israel/Lebanon border, 2006. Lebanon is to complain to the UN Security Council, accusing Israel of kidnapping a shepherd from inside Lebanese territory, the prime minister”s office has said.

Picture: (AFP/Hsassan Ammar)