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UN to Deploy Peacekeepers in Southern Lebanon
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan told the Security Council Monday that Israel had ended all violations of its border with Lebanon and that UN peacekeepers would be soon deployed in southern Lebanon.
In a letter to the President of the Security Council for the current month, Patricia Durrant of Jamaica, Annan said, "Israel authorities have removed all violations of the line of withdrawal."
The UN chief said Lebanese President Emile Lahoud and Prime Minister Selim al-Hoss had given their consent to the full deployment of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) at a meeting today with UN Special Envoy on the Middle East Terje Roed-Larsen.
"President Lahoud confirmed this decision to me in a subsequent telephone conversation," Annan said.
"UNIFIL's deployment will take place on July 26 and is to be immediately followed by the deployment of the composite Lebanese unit," Annan said.
The commander of UNIFIL, Major-General Seth Kofi Obeng of Ghana, discussed the operational details of the deployment with the Lebanese military authorities today, Annan added.
Israel announced the complete withdrawal of its troops from southern Lebanon on May 24, thus ending its 22 years of occupation there.
UNIFIL and Lebanese troops are not prepared to deploy in southern Lebanon until Israeli violations of the UN-established line of withdrawal has been cleared up.
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