Israel delivered a “vigorous protest” to Lebanon yesterday against the Beirut government’s orders restricting the transit of goods between the two countries. Israeli officials said the protest was made at Netanya where the delegates of Israel, Lebanon and the U.S. convened for another round of talks aimed at reaching political and security agreements.
The Lebanese delegation offered no immediate response but said it would refer the protest to the authorities in Beirut. Israeli sources quoted Lebanese negotiators as saying that the issue of trade would be resolved once an agreement is signed for the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Lebanon.
Lebanese merchants have reported that the Lebanese army has set up road blocks in the Beirut area to impound goods originating in Israel. A Lebanese newspaper reported Sunday that some traders have been arrested for buying Israeli goods. President Amin Gemayel recently issued an edict ordering the confiscation of goods purchased illegally but it is not clear whether this was directed specifically at Israeli goods.
Some Lebanese sources have accused Israel of dumping its products on the Lebanese market, to the detriment of the local economy. Israel insists that trade is part of the normalization of relations it demands from Lebanon. It is unclear how much reference to trade is contained in the agreement that has been evolving between the two countries for the past four months.
Lebanon is known to be extremely reluctant to spell out the terms of normalization in the agree- ment because of the negative effect this would have on its trade and diplomatic relations with the Arab world. Nevertheless, Israeli sources say they are satisfied with the sense of determination that marks the approach of all parties to the negotiations.
The talks are now said to be in their final stage. The three parties are meeting four times a week instead of twice weekly as had been the case. They spend two days in Netanya, and two days in Khalde, near Beirut. The U.S. has been represented at the talks by Morris Draper, a State Department official with the rank of special Ambassador. President Reagan’s representative, special Ambassador Philip Habib who just returned to the region from Washington, has now joined the talks.
The delegates from the three countries are attempting to finalize a draft based on all matters agreed upon to date and to draw up an inventory of issues still outstanding. Chief among the latter, according to Israeli sources, is the future role of Israel’s ally in Lebanon, Maj. Saad Haddad, and the future presence of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) in the south Lebanon security zone.
The sources said Lebanon has accepted Haddad’s continued presence in the zone in some capacity. But it still refuses Israel’s demand that Haddad be appointed commander of a “territorial brigade” comprised of his 2,000-man Christian militia and Lebanese army regulars to maintain security in south Lebanon after Israeli forces withdraw.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
