By Emma Gatten
BEIRUT: Hezbollah slammed U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon Thursday over
his latest report to the Security Council on the implementation of Resolution
1701, describing him as biased toward the West and warning that Western
hegemony over the international body threatened peace and security.
“U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon insists on confirming once
again his ultimate bias toward the Western will, which installed him in this
international position,” a statement released by Hezbollah said.
“Instead, he should be biased toward strengthening peace and
security, which is the international organization’s global goal,” Hezbollah
said.
Ban handed the latest report on the implementation of UNSCR 1701
to the Security Council Tuesday. The top international body will discuss the
report on Nov. 29. Resolution 1701 brokered a cessation of hostilities between
Israel and Lebanon following the July-August war in 2006.
Hezbollah criticized Ban for continuing to issue statements that
dealt with the situation in Lebanon, “which are influenced by Western
allegations stemming from absolute hostility toward the resistance and disregard
for the feelings of the Lebanese people.”
The U.N. chief’s 17th report contained “fallacies,” Hezbollah
said, adding that it “contradicts the simplest facts about the stability of the
situation in south Lebanon.”
In the U.N. report, Ban criticized Hezbollah as a threat to
Lebanon’s stability, and called on the government to hold a national dialogue
and work toward a national defense strategy.
“The presence of Hezbollah and other armed groups operating
outside the control of the state poses a continuous threat to Lebanon’s
sovereignty and stability,” he said in the 27-page document, an advance copy of
which was obtained by The Daily Star.
Hezbollah, however, warned that Western hegemony over the U.N.
was a threat to global peace and security.
“We believe that United Nations institutions falling under
Western domination, particularly the U.S., pose a great danger and threaten
international peace and security,” the group said.
In his report, Ban expressed concern about the increase in
security incidents in Lebanon, the presence of armed groups and the ongoing
flow of weapons into the country.
“I note with concern the increase in the occurrence of security
incidents in Lebanon, which highlights the continuous threat posed by armed
groups outside the control of the state and by the proliferation of arms in the
country.”
He criticized Lebanon for not fulfilling promises made since
2010 to control the country’s borders in order to prevent weapons entering the
country, saying the government has a responsibility in controlling its borders.
“Despite the commitment expressed by the Lebanese government in
January 2010 to adopt a comprehensive national strategy for border management,
no progress was made in this respect during the reporting period,” the report
said.
However, he also added that the U.N. had “neither been provided
with, nor found, evidence of the unauthorized transfer of arms into its area of
operations,” despite Israeli allegations that Hezbollah has been building up
its arsenal and military positions in the area.
Ban also raised concerns over poor border delineation in regard
to recent Syrian army incursions into Lebanon. “I strongly deplore the violent
incursions and raids into Lebanese towns and villages by Syrian security forces
that resulted in death and injury,” he said.
“The effective management of the border ... continues to be
adversely affected by the fact that it is neither delineated nor demarcated,”
he said.
He urged the immediate activation of a joint Lebanese-Syrian
committee to delineate the border, saying the demarcation was “critical to a
positive relationship between the two countries.”
UNIFIL spokesperson Andrea Tenenti commented on the report
Thursday, saying: “Now is the time to reconsider UNIFIL’s mission in Lebanon,
after it has been expanding its work in Lebanon for the past five years.”
Tenenti also
called for improved cooperation between UNIFIL and the Lebanese Army.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Politics/2011/Nov-18/154461-hezbollah-says-ban-biased-in-1701-report.ashx#axzz1dsxPgXvI
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