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08-28-2006, 08:44 PM
Scottsman (http://news.scotsman.com/international.cfm?id=1271532006)
Free the kidnapped Israelis, says Annan
ZEINA KARAM IN BEIRUT
KOFI Annan told Hezbollah yesterday to release two captured Israeli soldiers, as he pressed both sides to fulfil their commitments to solidify the two-week-old ceasefire in Lebanon.
The United Nations secretary general was speaking at the start of an 11-day diplomatic push to turn the truce into what he called a "long-term peace for Lebanon". Israel and Hezbollah could not pick and choose which parts of the UN ceasefire resolution to implement, he said.
Mr Annan met a Hezbollah official in Beirut - a sign that he is taking his effort directly to some of the parties shunned by the United States. He is also expected to visit Hezbollah's patrons, Iran and Syria, as well as Israel.
Two key steps loom large in pushing forward the ceasefire. One is arranging the release of the two Israeli soldiers whose capture by Hezbollah sparked Israel's 34-day onslaught on Lebanon. The other is putting in place an international force to help the Lebanese army enforce the truce in the south and ensure there are no open signs of Hezbollah weapons in the area.
Mr Annan said UN resolution 1701, which set out the terms of the ceasefire, was "a fixed menu". He said: "It's not a buffet ... it's not an à la carte menu where you choose and pick. Without the full implementation of resolution 1701, I fear the risk is great for renewal of hostilities."
He said he was renewing his "call for the abducted soldiers to be free" and urged Hezbollah to transfer them to the Lebanese government or to a third party under the auspices of the International Red Cross.
He also urged Israel to lift its air and sea blockade on Lebanon. "I'm working with them and a number of international partners to see to it that this is done," he said.
Ehud Olmert, Israel's prime minister, has said the blockade will remain in place until the international force takes up positions along Lebanon's borders and entry points to prevent weapons getting to Hezbollah.
"Until then, Israel must take the proper steps to prevent this smuggling," David Baker, an official in the prime minister's office, said.
Israeli diplomatic officials said the issue of the blockade would be discussed during Mr Annan's visit to Israel, which is due to begin today.
Turkey's cabinet decided yesterday to send troops to Lebanon as part of the expanded UN force in the south. If its parliament approves the move, Turkey would become the only Muslim country that has relations with Israel which has proposed sending peacekeepers. Italy also approved sending 2,500 troops to serve in the UN force.
Hezbollah supporters booed Mr Annan yesterday as he toured southern Beirut, a stronghold for the Shiite guerrilla movement that was heavily bombarded during the Israeli offensive.
Earlier, the UN chief met separately with Fuad Saniora, the Lebanese prime minister, Nabih Berri, the parliament speaker and Hezbollah's de facto negotiator, and Mohammed Fneish, a Hezbollah member of Mr Saniora's cabinet.
Mr Saniora said he talked to the UN chief about the status of the two Israeli soldiers, snatched by Hezbollah on 12 July.
Mr Annan's visit came amid signs of behind-the-scenes manoeuvring to arrange a prisoner swap between Israel and Hezbollah, to win the release of the two soldiers and of Arabs and Lebanese held in Israeli prisons. Israel has insisted it will not negotiate, but it has arranged such swaps in the past.
Tzipi Livni, Israel's foreign minister, said that unless the issue of the two soldiers was resolved, "the whole thing is of little significance".
Mr Olmert announced yesterday that an inquiry would be held into the Lebanon war, but he stopped short of ordering an independent investigation.
His decision avoids the prospect of high-level resignations which an independent inquiry could have brought.
"The government, headed by myself, will appoint an investigative committee," Mr Olmert said in a speech in the northern city of Haifa, which was hit frequently by Hezbollah rockets.
"The committee will be charged with examining the government's functioning in taking decisions and all that it sees as fit."
Mr Olmert has been facing calls to launch a thorough, independent investigation into the army's preparedness for the Lebanon conflict, the government's conduct of the war and the failure to crush the Lebanese guerrilla group.
But he said he did not wish to expose the army, which was heavily criticised for its performance, to a full-blooded, drawn-out inquiry. Instead, the military would have to carry out its own internal inquiry, he said.
The prime minister said the decision to go to war had been his alone, and he admitted to shortcomings in how the war had been pursued: initially, Israeli officials had talked about the conflict lasting a matter of days, not more than a month.
"I want to make one thing clear - the responsibility for the decision to go to war ... is entirely mine," he said.
Meanwhile, Jacques Chirac, the French president, said he regretted that the European Union had not played a larger role from the start in ending the fighting. "Europe was too absent from the Lebanese crisis," he said.
Mr Chirac said the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah had undone 15 years of hard work rebuilding the Lebanese economy.
• Ehud Olmert, the Israeli prime minister, illegally gave political allies key jobs, the country's top government watchdog ruled yesterday.
An investigation found that he made appointments to a state-funded agency linked to a government ministry he headed in 2004. Officials found "serious defects" in the hiring process.
Mr Olmert's office denied any wrongdoing.
The report has been handed to the attorney general to determine whether criminal charges should be filed. However, most political analysts say Mr Olmert is likely to survive the scandal and the controversy over the war with Hezbollah.
Abraham Diskin, of Jerusalem's Hebrew University, said: "People like Olmert have had street battles in dark alleys more than once. They are very, very tough people."
Free the kidnapped Israelis, says Annan
ZEINA KARAM IN BEIRUT
KOFI Annan told Hezbollah yesterday to release two captured Israeli soldiers, as he pressed both sides to fulfil their commitments to solidify the two-week-old ceasefire in Lebanon.
The United Nations secretary general was speaking at the start of an 11-day diplomatic push to turn the truce into what he called a "long-term peace for Lebanon". Israel and Hezbollah could not pick and choose which parts of the UN ceasefire resolution to implement, he said.
Mr Annan met a Hezbollah official in Beirut - a sign that he is taking his effort directly to some of the parties shunned by the United States. He is also expected to visit Hezbollah's patrons, Iran and Syria, as well as Israel.
Two key steps loom large in pushing forward the ceasefire. One is arranging the release of the two Israeli soldiers whose capture by Hezbollah sparked Israel's 34-day onslaught on Lebanon. The other is putting in place an international force to help the Lebanese army enforce the truce in the south and ensure there are no open signs of Hezbollah weapons in the area.
Mr Annan said UN resolution 1701, which set out the terms of the ceasefire, was "a fixed menu". He said: "It's not a buffet ... it's not an à la carte menu where you choose and pick. Without the full implementation of resolution 1701, I fear the risk is great for renewal of hostilities."
He said he was renewing his "call for the abducted soldiers to be free" and urged Hezbollah to transfer them to the Lebanese government or to a third party under the auspices of the International Red Cross.
He also urged Israel to lift its air and sea blockade on Lebanon. "I'm working with them and a number of international partners to see to it that this is done," he said.
Ehud Olmert, Israel's prime minister, has said the blockade will remain in place until the international force takes up positions along Lebanon's borders and entry points to prevent weapons getting to Hezbollah.
"Until then, Israel must take the proper steps to prevent this smuggling," David Baker, an official in the prime minister's office, said.
Israeli diplomatic officials said the issue of the blockade would be discussed during Mr Annan's visit to Israel, which is due to begin today.
Turkey's cabinet decided yesterday to send troops to Lebanon as part of the expanded UN force in the south. If its parliament approves the move, Turkey would become the only Muslim country that has relations with Israel which has proposed sending peacekeepers. Italy also approved sending 2,500 troops to serve in the UN force.
Hezbollah supporters booed Mr Annan yesterday as he toured southern Beirut, a stronghold for the Shiite guerrilla movement that was heavily bombarded during the Israeli offensive.
Earlier, the UN chief met separately with Fuad Saniora, the Lebanese prime minister, Nabih Berri, the parliament speaker and Hezbollah's de facto negotiator, and Mohammed Fneish, a Hezbollah member of Mr Saniora's cabinet.
Mr Saniora said he talked to the UN chief about the status of the two Israeli soldiers, snatched by Hezbollah on 12 July.
Mr Annan's visit came amid signs of behind-the-scenes manoeuvring to arrange a prisoner swap between Israel and Hezbollah, to win the release of the two soldiers and of Arabs and Lebanese held in Israeli prisons. Israel has insisted it will not negotiate, but it has arranged such swaps in the past.
Tzipi Livni, Israel's foreign minister, said that unless the issue of the two soldiers was resolved, "the whole thing is of little significance".
Mr Olmert announced yesterday that an inquiry would be held into the Lebanon war, but he stopped short of ordering an independent investigation.
His decision avoids the prospect of high-level resignations which an independent inquiry could have brought.
"The government, headed by myself, will appoint an investigative committee," Mr Olmert said in a speech in the northern city of Haifa, which was hit frequently by Hezbollah rockets.
"The committee will be charged with examining the government's functioning in taking decisions and all that it sees as fit."
Mr Olmert has been facing calls to launch a thorough, independent investigation into the army's preparedness for the Lebanon conflict, the government's conduct of the war and the failure to crush the Lebanese guerrilla group.
But he said he did not wish to expose the army, which was heavily criticised for its performance, to a full-blooded, drawn-out inquiry. Instead, the military would have to carry out its own internal inquiry, he said.
The prime minister said the decision to go to war had been his alone, and he admitted to shortcomings in how the war had been pursued: initially, Israeli officials had talked about the conflict lasting a matter of days, not more than a month.
"I want to make one thing clear - the responsibility for the decision to go to war ... is entirely mine," he said.
Meanwhile, Jacques Chirac, the French president, said he regretted that the European Union had not played a larger role from the start in ending the fighting. "Europe was too absent from the Lebanese crisis," he said.
Mr Chirac said the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah had undone 15 years of hard work rebuilding the Lebanese economy.
• Ehud Olmert, the Israeli prime minister, illegally gave political allies key jobs, the country's top government watchdog ruled yesterday.
An investigation found that he made appointments to a state-funded agency linked to a government ministry he headed in 2004. Officials found "serious defects" in the hiring process.
Mr Olmert's office denied any wrongdoing.
The report has been handed to the attorney general to determine whether criminal charges should be filed. However, most political analysts say Mr Olmert is likely to survive the scandal and the controversy over the war with Hezbollah.
Abraham Diskin, of Jerusalem's Hebrew University, said: "People like Olmert have had street battles in dark alleys more than once. They are very, very tough people."