Lebanon: Rahi Urges State Control of Illegitimate Weapons after Assault on UNIFIL

The funeral of the Irish soldier at Beirut airport yesterday (AFP)
The funeral of the Irish soldier at Beirut airport yesterday (AFP)
TT

Lebanon: Rahi Urges State Control of Illegitimate Weapons after Assault on UNIFIL

The funeral of the Irish soldier at Beirut airport yesterday (AFP)
The funeral of the Irish soldier at Beirut airport yesterday (AFP)

Lebanon’s Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi urged on Monday the Lebanese state to seize all illegal weapons in the country and embark on implementing UN resolution 1701.

Rahi’s calls came following a deadly incident that claimed the life of an Irish soldier of the UN peacekeepers (UNIFIL) operating in southern Lebanon.

A convoy of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon came under fire near the village of Al-Aqbiya late Wednesday killing Private Sean Rooney and wounding three other peacekeepers.

Witnesses said villagers in the Al-Aqbiya area blocked Rooney's vehicle after it took a road along the Mediterranean coast not normally used by the United Nations force.

It is the first death of a UNIFIL member in a violent incident in Lebanon since January 2015, when a Spanish peacekeeper was killed by Israeli fire.

The Intelligence branch of the Lebanese army opened investigations into the incident. Security sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that speedy investigations were opened to track the perpetrators, but that no suspects have been arrested so far.

In his Sunday sermon, Rahi said: “We strongly denounce and condemn (the incident) and we offer condolences to his friendly country and to his family, and to the Irish contingent, the commander of the international forces and their soldiers, and we also wish a speedy recovery for his injured members."

Rahi stressed that the incident only tarnishes the image of Lebanon, urging Lebanese authorities to open a transparent investigation to uncover the truth.

“This tragic incident, which tarnishes the image of Lebanon, requires a transparent Lebanese and international investigation to reveal the truth and deliver justice. The time has come for the state to put its hand on every unlawful and illegitimate weapon and implement Resolution 1701 in letter and spirit,” he said.

Rahi lamented what he described as “selective” implementation of UN resolutions, saying: "It is by far selective, arbitrary, and restricted by the decision of the de facto forces, while the state bites at its wound and restricts its capabilities in favor of others.”

UN Resolution 1701 calls for the full cessation of hostilities, the deployment of Lebanese forces to Southern Lebanon, parallel withdrawal of Israeli forces behind the Blue Line, strengthening the UN force (UNIFIL) to facilitate the entry of Lebanese Forces in the region and the establishment of a demilitarized zone between the Blue Line and the Litani River. It also calls for the UN Secretary-General to develop proposals to implement the relevant provisions of the Taif Accords as well as Security Council Resolutions 1559 (2004) and 1680 (2006) and imposes an arms embargo on Lebanon. The resolution was formally agreed to by both parties within 48 hours of its adoption.

Rahi stressed the need for positive and active neutrality, and the need to hold an international conference on Lebanon to address its political, economic and security crises.

“Everything happening at the presidential, governmental, parliamentary, and military levels in the south and on the borders, and the debilitation of the state, head and body, confirm the need to renew our call for active positive neutrality, and for convening an international conference on Lebanon,” he stated.

Over the years, there have been a number of incidents between Hezbollah supporters and UN peacekeepers but they have rarely escalated.

Wafic Safa, Hezbollah's security chief, said on Thursday that the incident was "unintentional" and called for investigators to be given time to establish the facts.



Cyprus Can Help Rid Syria of Chemical Weapons, Search for its Missing, Says Top Diplomat

FILE PHOTO: A UN chemical weapons expert, wearing a gas mask, holds a plastic bag containing samples from one of the sites of an alleged chemical weapons attack in the Ain Tarma neighborhood of Damascus August 29, 2013. REUTERS/Mohamed Abdullah
FILE PHOTO: A UN chemical weapons expert, wearing a gas mask, holds a plastic bag containing samples from one of the sites of an alleged chemical weapons attack in the Ain Tarma neighborhood of Damascus August 29, 2013. REUTERS/Mohamed Abdullah
TT

Cyprus Can Help Rid Syria of Chemical Weapons, Search for its Missing, Says Top Diplomat

FILE PHOTO: A UN chemical weapons expert, wearing a gas mask, holds a plastic bag containing samples from one of the sites of an alleged chemical weapons attack in the Ain Tarma neighborhood of Damascus August 29, 2013. REUTERS/Mohamed Abdullah
FILE PHOTO: A UN chemical weapons expert, wearing a gas mask, holds a plastic bag containing samples from one of the sites of an alleged chemical weapons attack in the Ain Tarma neighborhood of Damascus August 29, 2013. REUTERS/Mohamed Abdullah

Cyprus stands ready to help eliminate Syria’s remaining chemical weapons stockpiles and to support a search for people whose fate remains unknown after more than a decade of war, the top Cypriot diplomat said Saturday.

Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos said Cyprus’ offer is grounded on its own past experience both with helping rid Syria of chemical weapons 11 years ago and its own ongoing, decades-old search for hundreds of people who disappeared amid fighting between Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriots in the 1960s and a 1974 Turkish invasion, The AP reported.

Cyprus in 2013 hosted the support base of a mission jointly run by the United Nations and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to remove and dispose of Syria's chemical weapons.

“As a neighboring country located just 65 miles from Syria, Cyprus has a vested interest in Syria’s future. Developments there will directly impact Cyprus, particularly in terms of potential new migratory flows and the risks of terrorism and extremism,” Kombos told The AP in written replies to questions.

Kombos said there are “profound concerns” among his counterparts across the region over Syria’s future security, especially regarding a possible resurgence of extremist groups like ISIS in a fragmented and polarized society.

“This is particularly critical in light of potential social and demographic engineering disguised as “security” arrangements, which could further destabilize the country,” Kombos said.

The diplomat also pointed to the recent proliferation of narcotics production like the stimulant Captagon that is interconnected with smuggling networks involved in people and arms trafficking.

Kombos said ongoing attacks against Syria’s Kurds must stop immediately, given the role that Kurdish forces have played in combating extremist forces like the ISIS group in the past decade.

Saleh Muslim, a member of the Kurdish Presidential Council, said in an interview that the Kurds primarily seek “equality” enshrined in rights accorded to all in any democracy.

He said a future form of governance could accord autonomy to the Kurds under some kind of federal structure.

“But the important thing is to have democratic rights for all the Syrians and including the Kurdish people,” he said.

Muslim warned that the Kurdish-majority city of Kobani, near Syria’s border with Türkiye, is in “very big danger” of falling into the hands of Turkish-backed forces, and accused Türkiye of trying to occupy it.

Kombos said the international community needs to ensure that the influence Türkiye is trying to exert in Syria is “not going to create an even worse situation than there already is.”

“Whatever the future landscape in Syria, it will have a direct and far-reaching impact on the region, the European Union and the broader international community,” Kombos said.