UNIFIL withdrawal “would bring Lebanon”s downfall”

 

A withdrawal of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) from the South “would bring Lebanon”s downfall,” UNIFIL commander Major General Claudio Graziano said on Saturday. “Whenever I meet with Lebanese or Israeli officials, I stress their role in preserving stability in the region,” Graziano told the Italian newspaper Il Sole 24 ORE.

 

He added that the mission of the peacekeeping force “would not have succeeded if it weren”t supported by both the Lebanese and the Israelis.”

 

The force first deployed in South Lebanon after an Israeli invasion in 1978, but it was expanded last year in accordance with UN Resolution 1701, which put an end to the summer 2006 war with Israel.

 

An estimated 14,000 peacekeepers and support staff currently operate south of the Litani River. UNIFIL troops have been targeted in attacks since the end of the war, and the security situation in the country has deteriorated as pro-government and opposition camps have failed in months of talks to agree on a consensus candidate for the soon-vacant presidency.

Graziano said political bickering in Lebanon “is one of the challenges we face.” “However,” he added, “despite the crisis all of the Lebanese groups have repeatedly expressed their support for our mission.” He said that international support for UNIFIL”s mission has also contributed in “facilitating our mission.”

 

“The international community would not have sent 14,000 soldiers to South Lebanon and a fully equipped naval force to a tense region if our mission were not an important one,” he said.  

 

While Graziano acknowledged the existence of arms in South Lebanon, he stressed that it was not UNIFIL”s mission to disarm Hizbullah.

 

“It is only normal to find huge quantities of weapons in a country that has witnessed almost 30 years of civil war,” he said. “Yet our mission is not to disarm Hizbullah. Our searches and raids are restricted to situations where our own security is endangered.”