Friday, May 26, 2000 HEADLINES Sayyed Nasrallah calls on Palestinians to follow the lead of Hezbollah UNIFIL starts patrolling liberated area Larsen congratulates Lebanese on liberation, promises to raise detainees' issue in occupied Palestine Lahd: Israelis treated us like animals, Hoss calls on fleeing collaborators to return and surrender themselves Zionist MK wants Obeid and Dirani trial postponed Spoils left by retreating occupation army arrive in Baalbek -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sayyed Nasrallah calls on Palestinians to follow the lead of Hezbollah Blood has defeated the sword and broken the chain, Hezbollah Secretary General his Eminence Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah told around 200 thousand people who had gathered to meet him in the newly-liberated town of Bint Jbeil. We are here thanks to the martyrs and the bloods of Karbalaa, not as a result of a favor from the UN, the US or the cabinet of Barak who had no choice other than pulling out his troops from Lebanon, he said. Sayyed Nasrallah called on the Palestinian people to follow the lead of Hezbollah and adopt the option of resistance to liberate their land from the Zionist occupation. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- UNIFIL starts patrolling liberated area U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said he expects to make a formal recommendation to send additional UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) troops to Lebanon "within days". Annan said he expects the troops to be in the region "within weeks" to ensure peace following the Israeli occupation forces' withdrawal. He said he is awaiting formal confirmation of a complete Israeli withdrawal from U.N. emissaries in the region. Annan said the US blocking funds for U.N. undermines operations in four countries plus plans to beef up peacekeeping in Lebanon On the other hand, the UNIFIL troops began patrolling the former Israeli occupation zone in the south while cartographers started work to verify that "Israel" had withdrawn to the internationally-recognised border, UN sources said Friday. The patrols began on Thursday, a day after "Israel's" pullout from the region, a senior UNIFIL officer said at their headquarters here. He said the UNIFIL troops started patrols with "armored vehicles, in line with UN Security Council Resolution 425," voted in 1978 for Israel's withdrawal from southern Lebanon. Annan on Wednesday pledged the peacekeepers would move into areas vacated by Israeli forces in southern Lebanon "as quickly as possible" but did not give a date. UNIFIL comprises 4,513 troops, whose mandate applies to 550 square kilometers (220 square miles) of southern Lebanon. Annan recommended on Monday that the force be eventually boosted to 7,935 troops following an Israeli pullout from the area. "Israel" completed its withdrawal early Wednesday, about six weeks earlier than it had said. Meanwhile, UN cartographers began work to verify that Lebanon had recovered all of its internationally-recognised territory after the pullout. The cartographers, who were escorted by UNIFIL soldiers, comprise three UN employees and a specially-hired New Zealander expert, who has brought along sophisticated equipment to verify the border location. "It is evident that the Israelis are working very hard to comply with the UN resolutions but there are some parts of the border that need clarification," Annan's envoy Roed-Larsen told AFP. UNIFIL spokesman Timur Goksel said there were 12 locations, mainly on the eastern section of the border, where there were "doubts" about the frontier's exact line. French General Francois Dureau, chief of staff at the UN advisor's office for peacekeeping in New York, said the "internationally recognized border" was that established before the creation in 1948 of the state of Israel, when Palestine was under British mandate and Lebanon was a French protectorate. "The same does not apply to the Lebanese-Syrian border, which is not included in the UN treaty archives," he said. A lingering but highly-charged question over the Israeli pullout concerns the Shebaa farms, an area on the slopes of Mount Hermon on the eastern rim of the former occupation zone. "Israel", which occupied the area in 1967 along with the Golan Heights, considers the farms Syrian, their fate subject to negotiations with Damascus. "Israel" has built the Middle East s largest military observation post at the farms, which are at about 2,000 meters (6,300 feet) in altitude. Lebanon says that the land belongs to it, and Hezbollah, which led the successful campaign against the Israeli occupation, has vowed to pursue its armed efforts to secure its return. Roed-Larsen said Friday that the demarcation of FShebaa was "a technical and not a political issue" that would not be addressed by the cartographers and had to be resolved by Lebanon and Syria themselves. "It is not up to the United Nations to demarcate borders; this is a matter for states to do between themselves, according to international standards and practices," the envoy said. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Larsen congratulates Lebanese on liberation, promises to raise detainees' issue in occupied Palestine It is an honor for me to be here in Lebanon, at a time of joy and celebration throughout the country, said UN Secretary General's envoy Terje Roed-Larsen. Events are taking place at a remarkable peace. And it's not only how fast freedom has come, it's the remarkable way in which the people of Lebanon and the Lebanese leadership are reunifying the country, he added at press conference at UNESCO. "The United Nation's first task is to confirm whether Israel's withdrawal is compliant with resolution 425. You saw in the Secretary-General report to the Security Council that there are three basic requirements that must be met by Israel: First, "Israel" must leave Lebanon entirely; Second, "Israel" must dismantle the SLA command structure, remove or destroy the SLA's heavy weapons and cease all logistics support and supplies going to the SLA; And third, the detainees in Al-Khiam prison must be freed." Larsen said he would raise the issue of the remaining Lebanese prisoners in Israeli prisons when he visits occupied Palestine. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lahd: Israelis treated us like animals, Hoss calls on fleeing collaborators to return and surrender themselves The chief of the defunct Israeli occupation's proxy militia Antoine Lahd talked about the miserable situation he and his fleeing militiamen are living and the bad treatment they received in the Israeli entity. Lahd told the Israeli newspaper Yediot Aharonot that the Israelis have deceived him and dragged him behind them "like animals". The fleeing militiamen and their families staged a demonstration today to protest the treatment they are receiving at the hands of the Israeli officials. They burned some of the clothes that the Israelis had given to them. Prime Minister Dr Salim al-Hoss called on those who had left Lebanon because it was liberated to return and give themselves up to the judiciary which is "just and transparent". As he was leaving the Grand Serail, al-Hoss told reporters that speedy measures were adopted to accomplish the investigations with the surrendering militiamen as soon as possible. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Zionist MK wants Obeid and Dirani trial postponed Likud Knesset member Dany Naveh, the Zionist cabinet's legal advisor, asked the Israeli government to postpone the trial of Lebanese detainees Sheikh Abdel Karim Obeid and Hajj Mustafa al-Dirani. Naveh also wanted the debate about the extension of the two men's administrative detention and its legality postponed until the Knesset endorses a law in their case. The Israeli enemy's Knesset is to discuss a law that gives the Zionist war minister the right to hold individuals if this helps the release of Zionist prisoners. The Israeli court is to examine Obeid and Dirani's case publicly for the first time on Monday. Previous sessions used to be closed. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Spoils left by retreating occupation army arrive in Baalbek The 80-kilometers journey of the spoils left by the Israeli occupation forces in the western sector ended this morning. The 15-hour journey from Sohmor to Baalbek stopped at around 20 spots as people gathered on sidewalks to see what the "invincible" army left before it retreated from Lebanon with its tail between its legs. The convoy included a T-54 tank, two Armored Personnel Carriers, a number of military vehicles and a car that used to belong to the eastern sector commander of the occupation's militia Nabih Abu Rafeh who has fled to occupied Palestine. Beqaa Governor Milad al-Qareh mounted one of the convoy cars along with Faithfulness to the Resistance (FTR) member MP Sayyed Ammar al-Musawi. This the first time "Israel" resorts to destroying its arms or leaving them in the battlefield, al-Musawi said. This is a real independence day for Lebanon. What happened represents the victory of the Resistance's values and culture as towns were liberated without bloodshed even among the collaborators, he added. MP Musawi said the UN's position on the Shebaa farms is a fallacy that may lead to the UN losing what is left of its credibility. Resolution 425 talks about withdrawal from all Lebanese territories, not only about territories occupied in 1978, he concluded..