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Caribbean-Latin America

Mexico probes alleged Hezbollah financing, reports say

2006-10-13

Mexican and US agents are investigating a group in Mexico that they believe is funding Lebanese Hizbollah guerrillas, two newspapers reported on Thursday. Mexico started the investigation three months ago on a request from the United States, which is helping in the probe, the daily El Universal said. Lebanon's ambassador was critical. "This is part of a fear campaign from those who believe they are fighting against terrorism," Nouhad Mahmoud told Reuters. The alleged cell is suspected of financing Hizbollah rather than planning attacks itself, according to the Milenio newspaper. Milenio said the attorney general's office in Mexico has compiled a list of people and companies it believes have provided funds to support Hizbollah, but no names were given. Lebanon's ambassador was critical. "This is part of a fear campaign from those who believe they are fighting against terrorism," Nouhad Mahmoud told Reuters. He said he knew nothing about an investigation of a Hizbollah cell in Mexico: "We have no idea, we only saw this in the newspapers."

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Beirut dismisses UN draft resolution

2006-08-06

Lebanon has rejected a draft UN resolution proposed by the US and France that calls for "full cessation of hostilities" between Israel and Hezbollah. Nouhad Mahmoud, a Lebanese foreign ministry official, said on Sunday that the government "would have liked to see our concerns more reflected in the text" of the draft resolution. “...the government "would have liked to see our concerns more reflected in the text...” "Unfortunately, it lacked, for instance, a call for the withdrawal of Israeli forces which are now in Lebanon. That is a recipe for more confrontation." He said the government was also unhappy that the resolution does not call for the Shebaa Farms area to be put under UN control, as Lebanon has asked, while its future status is figured out. The UN draft resolution was released on Saturday after Washington and Paris reached an agreement on the document's details. Mahmoud said Lebanon had proposed some amendments to make the draft more acceptable to Beirut. "It must address the concerns of the Lebanese people. Otherwise it won't fly," he said. He added that Beirut remained committed to the seven-point plan adopted last month by its cabinet, which includes Hezbollah ministers. The plan calls for an immediate ceasefire, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from southern Lebanon, the return of Lebanese people driven from their homes by the fighting and the deployment of UN and Lebanese forces in the south, along with the disarmament of Hezbollah. Speaking after a cabinet meeting held to discuss the document, Ghazi Aridi, the Lebanese information minister, said: “None of us will give up anything to do with national sovereignty, rights, dignity™...” "Even this draft is not final ... we will not discuss the intentions of this side or that. None of us will give up anything to do with national sovereignty, rights, dignity," he said, affirming the government was committed "to Lebanon's territory, Lebanon's liberation, the withdrawal of the occupation from Lebanese land". Mohammed Fneish, one of two Hezbollah cabinet ministers, said: "We [will] abide by it on condition that no Israeli soldier remains inside Lebanese land. If they stay, we will not abide by it." “We will abide by it on condition that no Israeli soldier remains inside Lebanese land. If they stay, we will not abide by it...” John Bolton, the US ambassador to the UN, said the draft was the start, not the end. "This is not a resolution that provides the comprehensive solution. I'm sure there are aspects of it that are displeasing to almost everyone but the point is this is a way to get started and that's what we hope to do." An Israeli cabinet minister said the draft resolution put pressure on his country to complete its military operation quickly. "We have the coming days for lots of military moves. But we have to realise the timetable is getting shorter," said Isaac Herzog, the tourism minister and a member of the security cabinet. "It is a fact that we have to accept and act in accordance with," he said on Israeli Channel 1 television. “... a full cessation of hostilities based upon, in particular, the immediate cessation by Hezbollah of all attacks and the immediate cessation by Israel of all offensive military operations...” The draft resolution's central demand is for "a full cessation of hostilities based upon, in particular, the immediate cessation by Hezbollah of all attacks and the immediate cessation by Israel of all offensive military operations". The document charts a detailed path for the two sides to follow to achieve a lasting peace, envisioning a second resolution in a week or two that would authorise an international military force for southern Lebanon. Among those steps would be the creation of a large buffer zone in southern Lebanon free of both Israeli troops and Hezbollah fighters, monitored by the Lebanese army and international peacekeepers. But it sets no timetable for the withdrawal of thousands of Israeli troops that have moved into southern Lebanon in recent days. Nassir al-Nasser, Qatar's ambassador to the UN, the Security Council's only Arab member, said: "If we call for cessation of hostilities, then what after that? The Israeli forces are on the territory of Lebanon. They should go back." “The draft also called for Hezbollah to be disarmed and for Lebanon's borders to be solidified, especially in the disputed Shebaa Farms area...” The draft also called for Hezbollah to be disarmed and for Lebanon's borders to be solidified, especially in the disputed Shebaa Farms area, occupied by Israel since 1967. Another element was an arms embargo that would block any entity in Lebanon except the national government from obtaining weapons from abroad. That was aimed at blocking the sale or supply of arms to Hezbollah from Iran and Syria, which are believed to be the group's main backers. The resolution would put significant pressure on Lebanon's government, which ceded control of the south to Hezbollah. A vote on the resolution is expected within the next few days. Some political analysts said the UN initiative would be difficult to put into practice. "There's going to be a huge gap between the content of this resolution and the military and psychological reality on the ground [which] will make it hard to implement," said Shibley Telhami, a Middle East expert at the Brookings Institution in Washington. Telhami said one problem was that Hezbollah has not been involved with drafting the resolution. "It isn't clear that they (Hezbollah) have any input in this, and it's hard to see how you're going to implement something like this [without it]."

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Lebanon: U.S. Blocking Call for Cease-Fire

2006-07-16

UNITED NATIONS (AP) - Lebanon accused the United States on Saturday of blocking a U.N. Security Council statement calling for a cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah, saying the impotence of the United Nations' most powerful body sent the wrong signal to small countries and the Arab world. "It's unacceptable because people are still under shelling, bombardment and destruction is going on ... and people are dying," said Lebanese special envoy Nouhad Mahmoud. Qatar, the only Arab nation on the council, received widespread support during closed council consultations late Saturday for a press statement calling for an immediate cease-fire, restraint in the use of force, and the protection of civilians caught in the conflict, council diplomats said. But Argentina's U.N. Ambassador Cesar Mayoral said the United States objected to any statement and Britain opposed calling for a cease-fire. The U.S. and Britain want to wait for the outcome of this weekend's Group of Eight meeting in Russia, an Arab League foreign ministers meeting, and a mission sent to the Middle East by Secretary-General Kofi Annan, Mayoral and other diplomats said. France's U.N. Ambassador Jean-Marc de La Sabliere, the current council president, confirmed "there was no agreement on a text tonight, but we will meet on Monday." "Many delegations would have liked to have a very prompt reaction," he said. "Others think the spotlight should be elsewhere, not here in the council. " But Lebanon's Mahmoud protested, saying while innocent civilians are killed, "here we are impotent." "It sends very wrong signals not only to the Lebanese people but to the Arab people, to all small nations that we are left to the might of Israel and nobody is doing anything," he said. "We have many reasons to expect much more from the Security Council," said Mahmoud. And from the United States? "They were always supportive in the last 1 1/2 years, but when it comes to Israel it seems things change," he said. Yup. Get used to it. We stand with Israel. We'll stand with you unless you stand against Israel. It's not hard to figure out.

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