Philippines Foreign Secretary Domingo Siazon on Monday criticized Israel for its failure to calibrate its use of force in a bloody crackdown on the Lebanese border.
"The level of fatalities is quite high. They should be more restrained in using force. We hope they can have a settlement before today, otherwise you have a new round of hostilities," Siazon told reporters.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak sent troop reinforcements to the Lebanese border Sunday, and renewed an ultimatum to the Palestinians to halt the current wave of violence after three Israeli soldiers were abducted by Shiite Muslim Hizbollah guerrillas.
Siazon said Manila's immediate concern was the safety of about 50,000 Filipinos working in Israel, Lebanon and Jordan. He said half the number could be affected by an expanded flare-up.
"I don't have the money to move 25,000 people," he told reporters – MANILA (AFP)
© 2000 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
