In reaction to a reported deal between Lebanese Prime Minister Saniora and Hezbollah’s Nasrallah allowing Hezbollah to keep its weapons but refrain from exhibiting them in public, an an official in the Prime Minister Omert’s office has warned that Israel will have to resume operations in Lebanon. As quoted in the Jerusalem Post, the official said
[Security Council resolution 1701] is clear that Hizbullah needs to be removed from the border area, embargoed and dismantled. If the resolution is not implemented, we will have to take action to prevent the rearming of Hizbullah. I don’t think backtracking will serve any useful purpose. There has to be pressure on Hizbullah to disarm or there will have to be another round.
Israeli foreign minister Tzipi Livni is expected to raise the issue when she meets later today in New York with Kofi Annan. Reportedly, Annan angered Israeli officials when he told Israel Channel 2 on Tuesday that “dismantling Hizbullah is not the direct mandate of the UN.”
An official in the Olmert’s Office accused Annan of having an anti-Israel agenda:
He has been one-sided. He tried to be even-handed in a situation that was clearly asymmetrical. When one side committed crimes against humanity and engaged in genocide and the other side defended itself, he cannot treat us in the same manner.
Annan rejected charges of bias, saying,
I have been very hard on Hizbullah and condemned Hizbullah for what it has done. I have condemned Israel for what I consider excessive use of force but it doesn’t mean I am taking one side.
Transcript of full Wallace-Ahmadinejad interview available at
http://vitalperspective.typepad.com/vital_perspective_clarity/2006/08/in_case_you_mis_1.html
Fight Fire with Fire
Israeli government warned that the IDF will have to resume operations in Lebanon if the expanded United Nations force being assembled does not fulfill its obligation to dismantle Hizbullah. All the details on the Jerusalem Post.