Secretary General Javier Perez de Cuellar warned today that the position of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) “is becoming increasingly difficult” as a result of terrorist attacks against the Israel Defense Force in south Lebanon and the IDF counter-measures in retaliation.
In a statement issued by his spokesman here, the Secretary General stated: “UNIFIL is now stationed in an area where active resistance against the IDF is in progress, and in which the latter is engaged in active counter-measures. UNIFIL, for obvious reasons, has no right to impede Lebanese acts of resistance against the occupying force, nor does it have the mandate or the means to prevent counter-measures. In these circumstances, the men of UNIFIL have done their utmost to mitigate violence, protect the civilian population and to reduce acts of reprisal to the minimum.”
The Secretary General said that UNIFIL is in a “dilemma” with no easy solution. To withdraw the force, he said, will be against the interests of the Lebanese people, “while to involve it actively in the current violence would merely create a further complicating factor in an already extremely difficult situation.”
De Cuellar said that the only course for UNIFIL at present “is to maintain its presence and to continue within its limited means to carry out its existing functions in the area.”
Diplomats here said that de Cuellar’s statements can be seen as an attempt by the Secretary General “to prepare the ground” for the renewal of UNIFIL’s mandate which expires in April.
Meanwhile, the Security Council is scheduled to meet tomorrow morning at Lebanon’s request to discuss “Israeli aggression in south Lebanon.”
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