Secretary-General Kofi Annan reported that Syria has not pulled its forces out of Lebanon as called for by the UN Security Council, and said he had requested a timetable from Damascus for its "full implementation."
| Not much gets by old Kofi, does it? |
He said Lebanon also failed to meet a council request to disband and disarm all Lebanese and non-Lebanese militias and told the council he had asked Beirut for a similar timetable for its compliance.
| Right. This I want to see... |
 "It is time, 14 years after the end of hostilities and four years after the Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon, for all parties concerned to set aside the remaining vestiges of the past," Annan said Friday in a report to the Security Council. "The withdrawal of foreign forces and the disbandment and disarmament of militias would, with finality, end that sad chapter of Lebanese history," he said. On Sept 2, the deeply divided council narrowly adopted a resolution introduced by the United States and France calling for the withdrawal of all foreign forces from Lebanon and the disbanding of militias. It asked Annan to report on compliance in 30 days. Asked later by reporters if, in the report, he is pushing for a Syrian troop withdrawal, Annan said the resolution "speaks quite clearly on that."
| "I ain't demanding it, see? But the resolution does. What can I do?" |
While the resolution sent a strong message to Syria from the United States and key European countries to get out of Lebanon, the final draft was defanged dropped a threat "to consider additional measures" if it isn't implemented. Annan said Lebanese officials assured him of their intent to disarm all militias, but also informed him that "the fragile security situation in the region, the risk to Lebanon's stability and the lack of a comprehensive regional peace process would make it difficult to implement the resolution immediately and fully."
| "We're gonna do it, see? But we can't while there's Zionists about..." |
|