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Syria-Lebanon-Iran
UN Chief Calls for ‘Disarmament’ of Hizbullah
2020-10-25
[AnNahar] In his latest report on the implementation of Security Council Resolution 1559, Secretary-General António Guterres
...Portuguese politician and diplomat, ninth Secretary-General of the United Nations. Previously, he was the UN High Commissioner for Refugees between 2005 and 2015. He was the Prime Minister of Portugal from 1995 to 2002 and was the Secretary-General of the Socialist Party from 1992 to 2002. He served as President of the Socialist International from 1999 to 2005. In both a 2012 and 2014 poll, the Portuguese public ranked him as the best Prime Minister of the previous 30 years...
 called for "urgent reforms," an "end to corruption" and a "swift" formation of a government Leb
...an Iranian colony situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel. Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects. The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozeen flavors of Christians. It is the home of Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade. The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers...
, Asharq el-Awsat daily reported on Saturday.

Guterres warned in his 32nd semi-annual report that Hizbullah
...Party of God, a Leb militia inspired, founded, funded and directed by Iran. Hizbullah refers to itself as The Resistance and purports to defend Leb against Israel, with whom it has started and lost one disastrous war to date, though it did claim victory...
’s involvement in the Syrian war "poses risks to the stability of Lebanon and the region." He urged "regional countries," in reference to Iran, to "encourage" the transformation of Hizbullah into a "civil political party, and to disarm it."

"It demonstrates the failure of Hizbullah to disarm and its refusal to be held accountable to the state institutions," he said, calling on Hizbullah and other concerned parties "not to engage in any military activity inside or outside Lebanon.

Guterres also reiterated calls on Israel to "commit to its obligations under UN Security Council resolutions, and ro withdraw its forces from the northern part of Ghajar and an adjacent area north of the Blue Line."
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Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Ban: Hizbullah Drone May Threaten Lebanon Stability
2012-10-19
[An Nahar] U.N. Secretary General the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon
... of whom it can be said to his credit that he is not Kofi Annan...
 has warned that Hizbullah's sending of a reconnaissance drone into Israel's airspace may threaten stability in Leb, in his 16th report on the implementation of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1559.

According to LBCI television, Ban also voiced his concerns over the Syrian crisis' repercussions on the situation in Leb, praising the stances of President Michel Suleiman
...before assuming office as President, he held the position of commander of the Leb Armed Forces. That was after the previous commander, the loathesome Emile Lahoud, took office as president in November of 1998. Likely the next president of Leb will be whoever's commander of the armed forces, too...
 and Prime Minister Najib Miqati in regards to the so-called self-disassociation policy.

Exclusive sources told LBCI that the U.N. chief cautions in the report that "Hizbullah's activity in Syria threatens stability in Leb," pointing out that he urged the Syrian government to respect Leb's illusory sovereignty and integrity.

Ban also condemned the incidents that took place on the Lebanese side of the border, according to LBCI.

Hizbullah chief His Eminence Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah
The satrap of the Medes and the Persians in Leb...
 declared last week that his group had sent a drone over Israel, noting that Hizbullah has the right to keep sending UAVs as long as Israel is violating Leb's airspace.

"A sophisticated reconnaissance aircraft was sent from Lebanese territory ... and traveled hundreds of kilometers (miles) over the sea before crossing enemy lines and into occupied Paleostine," Nasrallah said.
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Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Hezbollah slams new UN bid to disarm it
2011-05-09
[Iran Press TV] Hezbullies has taken a swipe at a recent UN briefing on the outdated Resolution 1559, describing the move as part of a hostile effort against the Lebanese resistance movement.

The reaction came after the UN's Special Representative for the Implementation of Resolution 1559, Terje Roed-Larsen, delivered a report on the document before the Security Council in a closed door session on Friday, a Press TV correspondent reported.

Resolution 1559 was adopted by the Security Council in 2004, months before the liquidation of former Lebanese premier Rafiq Hariri. It was co-sponsored by the US and La Belle France under Presidents George W. Bush and Jack Chirac during a period of intense animosity between the West and Syria.

In addition to demanding the disarmament of Hezbullies, the resolution also called for demarcating the border between Syria and Leb and the withdrawal of Syrian troops from Leb, which was carried out early in 2005.

The Lebanese resistance movement of Hezbullies slammed the briefing as unjust and biased, describing Roed-Larsen as an "international official servant in the Zionist media system that reflects the full participation of hostility towards the Resistance,
That'd be the Hezbullies, natch...
 Leb, Arabs and all just causes in the world."

"The Secretary General remains convinced that the disarmament of the gangs in Leb, in particular Hezbullies, can best be achieved by a Lebanese-led political process," UN front man Farhan Haq said.

Roed-Larsen has delivered more than a dozen such reports to the Security Council, although 1559 was rendered obsolete by Resolution 1701, which was drafted with the intent to resolve the 2006 Israel-Leb conflict, triggered by a major Israeli attack against the Lebanese soil with the announced objective of taking out the Hezbullies resistance.

Roed-Larson's efforts to deliver briefings on an outdated resolution have raised serious questions among observers.

"The Security Council members want him to remain. The Secretary General wants him to remain. The major player, the United States, wants of course this 1559 to stay on in order to bring pressure on the resistance of Leb. They want to disarm the Hezbullies and they want pressure so they use these occasions in order to force such disarmaments," Nizar Abboud of Lebanese daily al-Akhbar said.

Abboud adds that the recent events across the Arab world make Roed-Larsen's work as the special envoy for Leb even more redundant.

Roed-Larsen has also labeled Leb as a dangerous place, where he reportedly does not visit -- which brings into question the sources of the information comprising his biannual reports to the Security Council.
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Syria-Lebanon-Iran
U.S. Lawmaker: Hizbullah Is Rearming, Lebanese Government Becoming More Subordinate to Iran and Syria
2010-12-02
The Lebanese government is increasingly "subordinate" to Iran and Syria, who have been helping Hizbullah rearm, a top U.S. politician told U.N. special envoy Terje Roed-Larsen.

Republican Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, the top Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, told the diplomat on Tuesday that she was "concerned" U.S. and U.N. efforts in Leb were failing to counter Hizbullah's growing power.

"Hizbullah, with the help of Iran and Syria, is massively rearming, the Lebanese government is becoming more and more subordinate to Iran and Syria, and the line between the Lebanese Armed Forces and Hizbullah is gradually being erased," she said in a statement summarizing their meeting.

"We need to have a clear vision of what the end-state is and how we can achieve it.

"Above all, we must protect the security of the U.S. and our allies, uphold Leb's illusory sovereignty, and ensure that those responsible for (late) Prime Minister (Rafik) Hariri's murder are held responsible," the Florida politician added.

Roed-Larsen has been overseeing U.N. Security Council Resolution 1559, a text adopted in 2004 by the 15-member body that calls for "the disbanding and disarmament" of all militias in Leb.
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Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Nasrallah: The Hand that Tries to Reach Our Members Will Be Cut Off
2010-11-12
[An Nahar] Hizbullah Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah warned Thursday his group will "cut off the hand" of anyone who tries to arrest any of its partisans over the 2005 liquidation of ex-premier Rafik Hariri.

"Whoever thinks the resistance could possibly accept any accusation against any of its jihadists or leaders is mistaken -- no matter the pressures and threats," Nasrallah said in a speech on closed-circuit television to mark Hizbullah's Martyr Day.

"Whoever thinks that we will allow the arrest or detention of any of our jihadists is mistaken," he said, describing his political rivals as "in a hurry to see an indictment" in the five-year-old case.

"The hand that attempts to reach (our members) will be cut off," he added, prompting thunderous applause from hundreds of his party supporters gathered in the southern suburb of Beirut to commemorate the occasion.

The Special Tribunal for Leb (STL), a U.N.-backed investigation into the Hariri murder, is reportedly set to issue an indictment soon that will implicate high-ranking members of Hizbullah.

Nasrallah, whose party fought a devastating war with Israel in 2006, said his movement would defend itself against any accusation through whatever means it found appropriate.

"Whoever thinks that the resistance will not defend itself and its honor against any accusation or attack by whatever means it finds appropriate, in agreement with its allies in Leb, is mistaken," he said.

The Shiite leader also said his party -- the most powerful military and political force in the country -- was ready for another round with its arch-foe.

"We await the day the indictment will be released," he said. "We are ready for any Israeli war on Leb and will again be victorious, Inshallah.

"Whoever thinks that threatening us with another Israeli war will scare us is mistaken," he added. "On the contrary, whoever speaks of another war is bearing good news and not threatening us."

Nasrallah's speech Thursday was the latest move in an increasingly heated campaign Hizbullah has launched to fend off the anticipated STL accusation against high-ranking members in connection with the killing of Hariri and 22 others in a Beirut bombing on February 14, 2005.

The head of the Iranian- and Syrian-backed movement has warned against any accusations by the tribunal and said further Lebanese cooperation with the court would be tantamount to an attack on his powerful group.

Despite Nasrallah's warnings, Prime Minister Saad Hariri -- son of the slain ex-premier -- has vowed to see the tribunal through.

On the other hand, Nasrallah noted that Israeli Vice Prime Minister Silvan Shalom "has stated that the indictment will lead to the implementation of (U.N. Security Council) Resolution 1559, which was engineered by the U.S. and France."

"The Lebanese today have a golden opportunity to save their country from an American and Israeli plot," Nasrallah said, as he renewed his charge that the STL was a U.S.-Israeli ploy to "guillotine the resistance."

"The Lebanese have one of two choices: either they hand the country over to ... (U.S. envoy Jeffrey) Feltman and (U.S. Secretary of State Hillary) Clinton, or they cooperate with Syria and Soddy Arabia."

Leaders of regional power-houses Syria and Soddy Arabia, which back Leb's two rival coalitions respectively, have met several times in an attempt to stem tensions in Beirut.

Western countries have stepped up their backing for the tribunal, with the United States announcing a 10-million-dollar donation to the court and both Feltman and U.S. Senator John I was in Vietnam, you know Kerry
... the Senate's current foreign policy expert, filling the empty broghans of Joe Biden...
 visiting Beirut.

Kerry, who chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has urged the U.N. Security Council to "pay very close attention" to Leb, pushing for "pre-emptive diplomacy" to calm the volatile situation.

Analysts have warned the standoff could lead to the collapse of the government and a repeat of the 18-month political deadlock that degenerated into deadly festivities and brought Leb close to civil war in May 2008.
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Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Larsen Says 'Heavily Armed Militias' Put Lebanon in 'Hyper-Dangerous Situation'
2010-10-29
[An Nahar] Terje Roed-Larsen, U.N. Special Envoy for the implementation of Security Council Resolution 1559, said Thursday that Leb is in a "hyper-dangerous" state because of the "heavily armed militias" operating in it.
The envoy, Terje Roed Larsen, called for urgent efforts to disarm groups such as Hizbullah in Leb, warning that there is "a hurricane blowing up" in the Middle East.

"Militias holding arms in Leb today is an intimidation in itself, particularly when it is paired with reckless and irresponsible rhetoric," Larsen told news hounds after briefing the U.N. Security Council in a closed session on Leb.

"Leb is more conflicted every day we see now. And we know that in Leb we have militias which are very heavily armed and increasingly so and this creates a hyper-dangerous situation," he said.

He did not comment on U.S. allegations that Syria and Iran were providing arms to Hizbullah but said: "There is a consistency between allegations we are hearing and statements from Hizbullah itself concerning their capabilities."

"These weapons are of course not coming from the moon."

The Middle East is "a region where we have cross-winds and a hurricane blowing up," Larsen warned.

"In the middle of those cross-winds there is a tent standing and that tent is critically held up by two poles. One is the Paleostinian one and one is the Lebanese. If one of those poles crack, the whole tent will go down.

"In other words, if the Lebanese situation is destabilized I am afraid that it will have rippling effects across the region," he told news hounds.
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Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Hizbullah Slams Ban, Says Report 'Political Meddling in STL Affairs'
2010-10-21
Hizbullah on Wednesday criticized U.N. chief the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon, saying his report on Resolution 1559 was meddling in the political affairs of the Special Tribunal for Leb.

Ban's report "written by staff member of the Zionist entity, Terje Roed-Larsen, is interference in Lebanese internal affairs and political interference in the affairs of the International Tribunal," said a statement issued by Hizbullah.
Ummm... What makes you say that?
The report by the U.N. Secretary-General said Leb has been hit by a new climate of "uncertainty" that could cause new instability across the region.

Ban said Hizbullah's arsenal "remains distinct from and may exceed the capabilities of the Lebanese Armed Forces, adding that Hizbullah's military strength "creates an atmosphere of intimidation and poses a key challenge to the safety of Lebanese civilians and to the government's monopoly on the legitimate use of force."
Anybody but Hezbollah and its sock puppets would call that a cool statement of fact. In the alternate reality of Hezbollah, however...
"It seems that Mr. the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon was in a deep sleep and he did not realize that Hizbullah, for a long time, has been at the heart of the Lebanese political equation through its presence in Parliament and in Government. "For this reason, (Ban) apparently is unaware of the right of all peoples, including the Lebanese people, to resist occupation.
That statement says nothing about the fact that Hezbollah is an armed camp within the Lebanese state and outside the state's control.
"It seems that he did not have time to examine the ministerial statement which gives the right to Lebanese Resistance," said the statement.
... a statement made under intimidation...
Hizbullah said Ban also had "forgotten" the position announced by President Michel Suleiman when he addressed the U.N. Security Council last month in which he affirmed Leb's and Lebanese right to use all available means to liberate Lebanese territory and the right of self-defense."
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Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Hezbollah slams UN ‘interference' in Lebanon
2010-05-01
BEIRUT - Hezbollah on Friday slammed “interference' in Lebanese affairs by UN envoy Terje Roed-Larsen and warned that its arsenal was off-limits after the diplomat accused militias of creating tension in Lebanon.
They really don't like it when a UN official points out the obvious ...
“Hezbollah condemns this attempt to create dissent and sedition among the Lebanese under the guise of advice and guidance,' the Shiite militant party said in a statement. “Roed-Larsen's continuous attempts to interfere in Lebanese affairs and incite the Lebanese to fight one another are unacceptable for an international official working for peace in the region,' it said.

On Thursday the UN envoy had warned of the need to address the presence in Lebanon of heavily armed militias, which he said was a violation of UN Security Council Resolution 1559, adopted in 2004. The resolution calls for “the disbanding and disarmament' of all militias in the country.

“As long as these unresolved issues are there, for instance the existence of heavily armed militias in Lebanon... there will always be tension,' Roed-Larsen said after briefing the Security Council on a report on the implementation of Resolution 1559.

But the Syria- and Iran-backed Hezbollah warned that its arms were “only to be discussed among the Lebanese as part of a comprehensive national defence strategy, and neither Roed-Larsen nor any other officials, international or not, can interfere.'

Hezbollah is the only Lebanese group that did not disarm after Lebanon's 1975-1990 civil war, arguing that its weapons were necessary to fight Israel.
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Syria-Lebanon-Iran
UN chief slams Hizbullah ŽintimidationŽ
2009-05-03
[Jerusalem Post Middle East] UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warned that Hizbullah is making an effort to create "intimidation" in Lebanon ahead of parliamentary elections scheduled for June, AFP reported late Monday. He was also quoted as voicing concern for Hizbullah activities in Egypt and the Gaza Strip.

In a report to the UN Security Council, Ban said, "The threat that armed groups and militias pose to the sovereignty and stability of the Lebanese state cannot be overstated."

"It creates an atmosphere of intimidation in the context of the upcoming parliamentary elections. It also undermines the stability of the region, and is incompatible with the objectives of Resolution 1559," he added, referring to a 2004 resolution which called for the "disbanding and disarmament of all Lebanese and non-Lebanese militias."

The UN chief described the groups arsenal as "a direct challenge to the sovereignty of the Lebanese state and an obstacle for the conduct of the normal democratic process in the country."

On Friday, Ban condemned what he said was Hizbullah's interference in the affairs of another country. "I am alarmed that Hizbullah publicly admitted to providing support to Gaza-based militants from Egyptian territory," he said.

"Such activity indicates that Hizbullah operates outside Lebanese territory and beyond its stated national agenda. I condemn such unwarranted interference in the domestic affairs of a sovereign member state," he said.

Ban renewed his call for Hizbullah to disarm and to transform into "a solely political party."

The group has rejected local and foreign calls to disarm, saying its arsenal of weapons and rockets is needed to defend Lebanon against any Israeli attack.

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Syria wants UN to back off on Lebanon - report
2009-03-21
Syria has asked UN chief Ban Ki-moon to prevent his special envoy Terje Roed-Larsen from interfering in Damascus' relations with Lebanon and stick to his mandate, Al-Akhbar newspaper reported Friday. The newspaper said that Syria's ambassador to the UN Bashar al-Jaafari delivered an official letter to Ban accusing his special envoy for the implementation of Security Council Resolution 1559 of "misinterpreting the logical framework of his mandate." About Syrian-Lebanese relations, the letter said: "The establishment of diplomatic ties and demarcation of the border between Syria and Lebanon are issues linked to the sovereignty of countries and are solved through agreement between the Syrian and Lebanese governments."
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Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Armed Hezbollah a challenge to Lebanon : Ban Ki-moon
2008-04-24
Hezbollah's continued armed strength poses a key challenge to Lebanese sovereignty, UN chief Ban Ki-moon said in a report this week, prompting criticism on Wednesday from the Shiite movement. "Hezbollah's maintenance of a para-military capacity poses a key challenge to the government's monopoly on the legitimate use of force," Ban said in his seventh report on implementation of Security Council Resolution 1559.

He reiterated his view that the disarming and disbanding of Lebanese and non-Lebanese militias, called for under the resolution which was adopted in 2004 should take place through "an inclusive political dialogue." Ban said Syria and Iran "bear a significant responsibility in supporting such a process, for the sake of Lebanon's and the wider region's security, stability and welfare."
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Syria-Lebanon-Iran
UN urged to investigate Lahoud's crimes
2007-11-28
As soon as Lebanon's former president Emile Lahoud stepped down and left the presidential palace the International Lebanese Committee (ILC) for UN Resolution 1559 issued the following press release urging the investigation of the crimes committed during Lahoud's term in office
The International Lebanese Committee ( ILC) for UN Resolution 1559 expresses its satisfaction that former President Emile Lahoud has finally left the Presidential Palace in Baabda after more than three years from his illegal extension of power, a breach of laws and principles which was addressed by one stipulation of the UN 1559 issued in September 2004, one day after the constitutional piracy was forced on the Lebanese People. However now that Mr. Lahoud has left the office, the Committee is calling on the UN special prosecutor in the Terrorist attacks in Lebanon since the fall of 2004 and the special envoy of the Secretary General of the UN to investigate General Lahoud regarding the following serious charges:

1. The Hariri and Lebanese politicians assassinations:
General Lahoud was an imposed President of Lebanon between October 2004 and November 2007. Under his Presidential mandate six political leaders, including legislators and a minister were savagely assassinated and two political activists murdered for political reasons. Under his Presidency the joint operations room between his regime, the Syrian regime and Hezbollah was still in function. General Lahoud was the higher supervisor of this joint operation room and thus is aware of the cooperation between the two regimes and Hezbollah in Lebanon during this period of time. A UN investigation with General Lahoud is now warranted in the Terror assassinations of Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri, MP Basem Fleihan and their escort, Samir Qassir, George Hawi, MP Gebran Tueni, Minister and MP Pierre Gemayel, MP Walid Eido and MP Antoine Ghanem. General Lahoud as the highest security official overseeing the joint intelligence operation room along with the Syrian regime and Hezbollah must be investigated at once by the UN investigation committee.

2. The assassination of Lebanese activists:
General Lahoud, being the head of the regime between 1998 ad 2007 and the highest authority overseeing the intelligence joint operation room with Syria and Hezbollah, should also be investigated in the assassination of Lebanese political activists who were kidnapped, tortured and killed between 1998 and 2007.

3. The Lebanese detainee in Syria:
General Lahoud, being the head of the regime between 1998 ad 2007 and the highest authority overseeing the intelligence joint operation room with Syria and Hezbollah, should also be investigated in the illegal arrest, kidnapping and transfer to Syrian jails of hundreds of Lebanese and non Lebanese national where they were tortured and some have been killed while others are still unaccounted for.

4. The Lebanese military and civilians murdered in 1990
General Lahoud, having deserted the legal Lebanese Army in 1990 and appointed by a Syrian-backed Government as a new commander of a Syrian controlled Lebanese Army that same year took responsibility for a joint Syrian-Lebanese military operation against the Ministry of Defense and the Presidential Palace in Lebanon between 7 AM and 5 PM on October 13, 1990. During that operation hundreds of Lebanese soldiers and civilians were executed against all norms of international law and a number of military personnel and civilians were detained and transferred to Syria. General Lahoud should be investigated for information he may have kept about these executions and the fate of the vanished persons.
The Committee 1559 also calls on the parents and relatives of all the victims mentioned above to inform the UN Investigation Commission about all questions related to these crimes and acts of terror, so that the investigation with General Lahoud can be comprehensive.
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