Israel Pledges Full Cooperation in Implementing U.N. ResolutionsIsrael pledged on Friday that it would continue to cooperate fully with the United Nations in implementing the resolutions of 425 and 426.David Levy, Foreign Minister of Israel, made the statement after meeting U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan this afternoon. Speaking to the press, Levy said during the meeting, the Secretary-General mentioned positively the full cooperation that Terje Roed-Larsen, U.N. Special Envoy on Middle East, and his team received from Israel during their visit. "With the cooperation and implementation of U.N. resolutions, we see a change in the situation towards tranquillity and calmness and in the situation that Lebanon returns to promise," Levy said. "I also proposed to the Secretary-General that he visit our region and the region involved in order to demonstrate the importance," the Foreign Minister added. Israel informed the United Nations last month that It had decided to withdraw its troops from Southern Lebanon by July 2000. Israel also promised that it would cooperate fully with the United Nations in implementing the resolutions of 425 and 426 of 1978. Resolution 425 called for "strict respect for the territorial integrity, sovereignty and political independence of Lebanon within its internationally recognized boundaries" and called upon "Israel immediately to cease its military action against Lebanese territory." It also sets out the U.N.'s role, "in light of the request of the Government of Lebanon," by establishing an "interim force for southern Lebanon for the purpose of confirming the withdrawal of Israeli forces, restoring international peace and security and assisting the Government of Lebanon in ensuring the return of its effective authority in the area.' In Resolution 426, the Security Council approved the Secretary- General's report on the implementation of the Resolution 425 and agreed to the establishment of the United Nations Interim Forces in Lebanon(UNIFIL). Resolution 426 gave UNIFIL a six-month mandate, which has been regularly renewed at the request of Lebanon since it was first approved in March 1978. |
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