UN Secretary General Kofi Annan recommended on Monday extending the mandate of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) for a six-month period, through January 2002, while calling on all parties in the region to respect the line of Israeli withdrawal, known as the Blue Line.
In a new report to the Security Council, Annan said the situation along the Blue Line, except in the sector adjacent to the occupied Shabaa Farms area, remained generally calm, said the UN news website.
"Most of the violations of the line were minor and quickly corrected once UNIFIL had raised them with the party concerned," he said in a report.
At the same time, the report cited recent events involving exchanges of fire which wounded Israeli, Lebanese and Syrian soldiers as evidence that the dangerous situation was potentially threatening to the stability of the region. Annan stressed that it was of "paramount importance that all parties concerned respect the Blue Line as called for by the Security Council, cease all violations thereof and desist from any action that could serve to destabilize the situation."
Attacks across the line in the occupied Shabaa Farms area are the greatest cause of concern, while the persistent Israeli violations of Lebanese airspace have created additional tension, according to the report.
"A pledge on June 28 by the Israeli Minister of Defense to my representatives in the region, Terje Roed-Larsen and Staffan de Mistura, to stop at least the flights over cities deep inside Lebanon, has yet to be fulfilled," Annan said.
Annan’s report also mentioned the controversy that arose over a videotape made by UN peacekeepers of vehicles that might have been used in the abduction of three Israeli soldiers last October, and noted that Israel and Lebanon have been offered the opportunity to view the tape, with the identities of non-UN personnel obscured.
Undersecretary General for Management Joseph Connor, who has been charged with leading an investigation into the internal handling of the matter, visited UNIFIL headquarters in Naqoura Tuesday, according to a UN spokesman.
"He is meeting with UNIFIL staff as part of his investigation, which he hopes to wrap up by the end of the month," spokesman Fred Eckhard told reporters in New York.
The Security Council is expected to hold consultations on Lebanon on Wednesday, said the UN news service - Albawaba.com
