“We are not afraid of threats. We adapt” – UNIFIL chief El Salvador to Send 52 Peacekeepers to Lebanon
Major General Claudio Graziano, commander of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), said Friday the success of Resolution 1701 depends on the commitment of all parties to implement it.
Speaking after a meeting with resigned Foreign Minister Fawzi Salloukh, Graziano said his visit was aimed at informing Salloukh of the situation in South Lebanon, and added: "I am very grateful for the Lebanese government”s support for the international force and for all relevant parties” commitment to Resolution 1701."
Asked about the recurrent threats made against UNIFIL, Graziano said: "Our official mission is to maintain peace, while taking into consideration any threat launched against us."
"But we are not afraid of threats. We adapt ourselves to this fact and do our best to face any kind of menace," he added.
Graziano said UNIFIL would always work hand in hand with the Lebanese Armed Forces to accomplish its mission.
"The UN by definition has no enemies. Some people are trying to weaken our stability but in return, we try to avoid being threatened," he said.
Salloukh expressed the gratitude of the Lebanese people and government for the international peacekeepers” work on social, economic and security issues.
The resigned minister stressed the need to exert pressure on Israel to submit maps of cluster bombs which it employed in South Lebanon during the summer war of 2006.
Commenting on reports circulating in the media about UNIFIL”s plans to launch an office in Tel Aviv, Graziano said the decision had been made in the summer of 2006 and was aimed at promoting UNIFIL”s relationship with Israel.
A statement issued by UNIFIL Thursday said "the decision to establish the office was made in the United Nations immediately following the adoption of UN Security Council Resolution 1701 in August 2006. Progress on establishment of this office has since been routinely reported in subsequent reports of the secretary general, which are public documents."
"The plan for establishing the UNIFIL office in Tel Aviv is therefore a well-known fact and not a new proposal as the media reports suggest," the statement stressed. "The discussion referred to in the media reports were related to the financial implications of the establishment of this office."
Al-Akhbar newspaper had recently reported that UNIFIL was working on opening an office in Tel Aviv, "without getting the approval of the General Assembly and was trying to secure the funding of the office through the Fifth Committee of the UN General Assembly."
The newspaper also reported that Lebanon”s representative in the Fifth Committee "learned while attending one of the committee”s meetings that the Lebanese government already knew about UNIFIL”s plans to open an office in Tel Aviv and did not object to the matter."
The Lebanese government issued a statement Wednesday saying Al-Akhbar reports that UNIFIL intended to set up a Tel Aviv office in coordination with Premier Fouad Siniora were "at best a pure figment of their imagination, if not deliberately made up."
Meanwhile, El Salvador”s legislature on Friday gave the green light to send 52 troops to south Lebanon to join the U.N. peacekeeping mission.
The United Nations gave its seal of approval to Salvadoran participation in the mission back in December, but the move required approval from lawmakers.
MPs in the Central American country”s one-chamber legislature voted 81 out of 84 in favor of taking part in the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).
The Salvadoran troops will undergo training in Spain before they head to Lebanon in August.