Washington: Full Implementation of Resolution 1701 Still a Priority
A State Department official has said the full implementation of U.N. Security Council resolution 1701 remained a priority for the U.S., in the first American reaction to a series of blasts caused by stockpiled ammunition in southern Lebanon.
"The presence of the Hizbullah arms depot is a dangerous threat to the full implementation of Security Council resolution 1701 and contradicts with resolution 1559," the official told An Nahar newspaper in remarks published Friday.
"The full implementation of resolution 1701 remains a priority for the U.S. government and the international community," he said.
"We are still very worried about the role that Hizbullah is playing in Lebanon. Its efforts to rearm itself constitute a violation of various Security Council resolutions," the State Department official added.
He reiterated the U.S. stance that Hizbullah poses a danger to peace and stability in Lebanon and the region.
Reminding that resolution 1701 imposed a strict embargo on weapons destined for militants in Lebanon, the official told An Nahar that the Obama administration was continuously expressing its worries to the U.N.”s general secretariat, the Lebanese and Syrian governments and UNIFIL about arms smuggling.