Larsen Urges Lebanon, Israel to Respect UN Decision

The United Nations special envoy Terje Roed-Larsen here Tuesday afternoon urged both Lebanon and Israel to respect Security Council Resolution 425.

Larsen told a press conference that before his returning to the UN headquarters in New York Wednesday, he would continue talks with Lebanese leaders. "Lebanon should respect UN decision and implement it as a member state," he said.

He admitted that "there have been remarkably few issues" between the UN and Lebanese government, and for several times, he expressed appreciation of Lebanese "full cooperation" with the world organization.

Larsen also said the Shebaa Farms and demarcation of Israeli-Lebanese border "are matters that were beyond" his mandate. The UN had the responsibility to identify a line of withdrawal, he added.

The UN envoy said once the UN cartographers end their field work, he will hand his report to the secretary general, who will submit it to Security Council. "The Council will judge whether Israel implemented Resolution 425," he said.

He announced that the principles for drawing the withdrawal line were established in the secretary general's May 22 report to the Security Council. The line was based on the best evidence that had been available to the UN.

Larsen confirmed that both Israel and Lebanon considered that the withdrawal line drawn by the U.N. does not conform with their respective definitions of the border, given the lack of mutually agreed geographic co-ordinates and the imprecision of the written descriptions of the 1923 agreement and the records of the Mixed Armistice Commission.

As for the disputed Shebaa Farms, he suggested Syria and Lebanon undertake a demarcation exercise to determine their border precisely.

Shebaa Farms, the 200-square kilometer highly fertile land located on the west side of Mount Hermon, which is under Israeli occupation, were claimed by Lebanon as its, with Syrian support. Israel argues the area belongs to Syria, and that a withdrawal from it would be considered in peace talks with Damascus when they resume.

Larsen disclosed that the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) will begin Wednesday to determine whether Israel's withdrawal was in compliance with Resolution 425. Lebanese and Israeli governments are also being provided with the maps of the withdrawal line.

Resolution 425, adopted by the Security Council after Israel's first invasion of Lebanon more than two decades ago, calls for " immediate and unconditional" withdrawal of Israeli troops from Lebanese territory.



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