Brian Urquhart, Undersecretary General for Special Political Affairs, said today that although the situation in south Lebanon is “very volatile” he felt felt that the parties in the area intend to keep the cease-fire that went into effect last July.
Speaking at a press conference here, Urquhart, who recently returned from a visit to Beirut, Damascus, Amman and Jerusalem, where he held talks with Palestine Liberation Organization chief Yasir Arafat and Premier Menachem Begin of Israel, among other officials in the four countries, said that, from his conversations with the leaders of the area, he understood that all were interested in keeping the cease-fire.
In response to a question, on whether he thought Israel is planning to attack south Lebanon, the Undersecretary replied “very often alarming stories do not necessarily reflect the situation.”
On the issue of the increase of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) troops by 1,000, as approved by the Security Council two weeks ago, Urquhart said the composition of the additional troops would include a 600-man French battalion and the rest of the 400 troops will came from Nepal, Guyane, Fiji and Ireland.
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