If Proven, Israeli Spying a “Serious Violation” of Lebanese Sovereignty
If allegations that Israeli spy networks are operating in Lebanon were confirmed in court, they would represent a serious violation of Lebanese sovereignty and undermine relevant U.N. resolutions, a top U.N. official said Wednesday.
"If these allegations are confirmed in court, this would constitute a very serious violation of Lebanon”s sovereignty and consequently undermine relevant Security Council resolutions," Michael Williams, the U.N. special coordinator for Lebanon, told reporters in New York.
"As special representative of the secretary general, I am acutely conscious of the great unease and worry that this has caused among Lebanese," he added.
Williams spoke after briefing the 15-member council on implementation of Resolution 1701, which ended the 2006 war between Israel and Hizbullah in south Lebanon.
The U.N. envoy however dismissed allegations that the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) facilitated the crossing of Israeli agents from Lebanon into Israel.
"UNIFIL has looked at this very, very seriously," Williams said. "The allegations that they were facilitating in some way the passage of individuals across the blue line is, I think, without foundation."
Last month, Lebanon”s military prosecutor charged 10 more suspects with spying for Israel, continuing a crackdown on spy rings that has now seen a total of 68 people charged.
Forty of those charged are currently in custody.
Despite these developments, he said he believed that, "three years after the 2006 war, with the renewal of a democratic mandate for the new government of Lebanon that Prime Minister Saad Hariri is trying to form, there is a sound basis in the coming months for proceeding with the further implementation of 1701."
Williams also deplored the fact that despite "repeated criticisms by the secretary general, Israeli overflights (over Lebanon) continue unabated and on a daily basis."
Williams noted that no date had yet been set for Israel to withdraw from the divided border village of Ghajar.
The special coordinator said the issue of Israel”s pullout from Ghajar is going to be one of the main areas of work in the coming months. "We believe now with a new government in Israel, the formation of a new government in Lebanon, the hard work of UNIFIL, that the atmosphere may be more propitious to a settlement."
He added that he believed the Ghajar issue "is far more achievable in the short run" than that of the Shebaa Farms area, which Lebanon and Syria have yet to resolve.
The establishment of full diplomatic relations between the two countries over the past year, Williams noted, provides a "sound basis" on which to tackle their border issues.
"We believe that with the successful implementation of diplomatic relations between Lebanon and Syria, and other positive developments in the relations between the two countries… that the next step to be taken will be the delineation of the common border between the two countries."