Lebanon to deploy army in south: Reservists called up
BEIRUT, Aug 7: The Lebanese government on Monday announced plans to send 15,000 troops to the south, hoping to pave the way for changes to a U.N. Security Council resolution to end 27 days of fighting.
The Lebanese army called up reservists ahead of the planned deployment to south Lebanon.
Prime Minister Fouad Siniora has called for an early ceasefire but Lebanon has said it was unhappy with a U.S.-French draft resolution to end the fighting, demanding that it include a call for the immediate withdrawal of Israel’s 10,000 troops from southern Lebanon.
The sources said Saad al-Hariri, the head of the anti-Syrian majority in parliament, had held talks with King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia and contacted U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan and other French and European officials to push Lebanon’s demands.
Lebanon’s opposition has caused the United States and France to delay a vote on the resolution.
While Israel has not formally commented on the draft resolution, one senior government official and Israeli media have said the Jewish state viewed it favourably, partly because it allowed soldiers to remain in southern Lebanon until an international force arrived to take over.
It was not immediately clear how many reservists Lebanon had called up. Their role would be to extend the state’s control to the south of the country, as demanded by the U.N. Security Council, not to fight Israel.
The south of the country has been under the virtual control of Hezbollah guerrillas. They say they will cease fire only once all Israeli soldiers leave Lebanese land.
Israel is trying to push Hezbollah back to behind the Litani River, about 20kms from the border, in an effort to limit rocket attacks into northern Israel. Lebanon demands Israeli troops pull out of southern Lebanon as part of a truce.
