French Defense Minister Michele Alliot-Marie on Friday insisted that the anti-aircraft missiles deployed with the French Unit within the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) will be exclusively used for self-defense if the ongoing Israeli jets violating Lebanese airspace hit the force. She told a press conference that "so far the ground-air missiles are only meant for self protection and self defense and will not be used in different fashion," in reaction to what UNIFIL Commander Alain Pellegrini said the day before that the Force may use those missiles if diplomacy fails to convince Israel to stop those flights.
She insisted that those air violations are "dangerous ... and against Israel's own interest, they are counterproductive. They are dangerous, first because they are considered hostile by the coalition forces, that could lead to retaliation and this would be a very serious incident. On the other hand, these violations make the resolution (1701) more fragile, because some elements could be used as a pretext by some people to retaliate. That's why it is necessary that these violations stop." She noted, however, that she was told by UN officials on the ground that these violations have stopped for the last 48 hours. |