Jerusalem Post
Israel has embarked on a public relations campaign to end Syria’s occupation of Lebanon, Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom said at Sunday’s cabinet meeting. "The time has come to end Syria’s occupation of Lebanon, an occupation which has been ongoing since 1976," Shalom told cabinet ministers. Syria has about 20,000 troops stationed in Lebanon, and is against allowing the Lebanese army to deploy to the southern border with Israel, preferring instead to allow Hizbullah, which it supplies with arms, to control Lebanon’s southern border. Since September 17, 1982, Syria has been in violation of UN Security Council Resolution 520, demanding that "all non-Lebanese forces" leave Lebanon. Syria has occupied Lebanon since 1976, when it initially intervened in the Lebanese civil war. Syria says its presence in Lebanon is based on a ’peacekeeping role’.
"Syria is an occupying power in Lebanon, and Syria devours Lebanon’s resources. The time has come for the nations of the world to stop turning a blind eye to this and start dealing with this problem," Shalom said. Shalom said he would raise the issue with visiting heads of state. Shalom added that Israel’s diplomatic representatives abroad had been instructed to amplify the issue in their host countries. Most of Syria’s occupation forces in Lebanon are based in the Bekaa Valley. In December, US President George W. Bush signed into law the Syria Accountability and Lebanese Sovereignty Restoration Act of 2003, which could lead to the imposition of fresh sanctions on Damascus unless the administration can certify changes in Syrian behavior. The act directs the president to ban US sales of weaponry and dual-use items - items that could be used for civilian or military purpose - unless Syria abandons its support for terrorism, removes its troops from Lebanon, stops the flow of terrorists into Iraq, and abandons its pursuit of non-conventional weapons. The act also calls on the president to impose two or more sanctions from a list of six: an export ban; ban on US businesses operating in Syria; restrictions on Syrian diplomats in the US; exclusion of Syrian-owned aircraft from US airspace. |