United Nations Special Coordinator
for Lebanon Derek Plumbly ruled out any intention by the U.N. to set refugee
camps for Syrians who have fled to Lebanese border towns or to set up
humanitarian corridors through Lebanon.
Plumbly told reporters on Tuesday
that he fears the escalating situation in Syria might have repercussions on
Lebanon, but the officials he met with since his appointment stressed their
keenness to safeguard Lebanon and disassociate it from the developments in the
neighboring country.
He noted that the visit of U.N.
Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief
Coordinator Valerie Amos to Lebanon was to coordinate, on international levels,
the issue of the Syrian refugees.
The U.N. official revealed that the
numbers of Syrian refugees in Lebanon have reached 6,916, a number that is
increasing on daily basis.
Earlier this month, the Lebanese
army reinforced its presence in the northern region of Wadi Khaled, which
borders Syria and is close to the flashpoint province of Homs.
Syrians have sought refuge in
Lebanon, most of them in Wadi Khaled, since the outbreak nearly a year ago of
an unprecedented revolt against the regime of President Bashar Assad.
The Syrian army in November laced
the Lebanese border with landmines in a bid to curb arms smuggling and to
hamper army defectors and refugees from fleeing.
Syrian troops have also staged
deadly incursions into border villages in Lebanon.
Plumbly said that his mission in
Lebanon is to guarantee the implementation of U.N. Security Council resolution
1701 as Lebanon and Israel are demanded to exert more efforts to implement
peace and halt any violation along the border.
His mission is also to coordinate
the U.N.’s efforts in Lebanon through managing the work of its organizations in
the country.
According to Plumbly around 14,000
people work at the U.N. organizations in Lebanon, with 11,000 of them linked
the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon.
The U.N., according to the diplomat,
makes allocations of $800 million per year for Lebanon.
Plumbly expected that the U.N.
"strategy" review of its peacekeeping force, which has been hit by
several attacks in recent months, would be referred to the U.N. Security
Council in March.
UNIFIL soldiers have been the target
of three attacks in the past year that have prompted fears they could be linked
to the deadly unrest in neighboring Syria.
The force was deployed in 1978 to maintain
stability at the border between Lebanon and Israel. It was expanded in 2006
following a devastating war between Hizbullah and the Jewish state.
Concerning the Special Tribunal for
Lebanon probing the assassination of ex-Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, Plumbly
expressed “relief” over the cooperation between the cabinet and the court.
The STL has issued arrest warrants
against four Hizbullah suspects. But the authorities in Lebanon have failed so
far to arrest them.
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