- "Shalom's comments show 'how much the Lebanese-Syrian
alliance bothers Israel, to the extent of pushing it to throw out all the
rules and to lack a minimum of decency.'"
-
-
- BEIRUT (AFP) Lebanese Foreign
Minister Jean Obeid denounced calls by his Israeli counterpart Silvan Shalom
for the international community to put an end to the Syrian "occupation"
of Lebanon.
-
- Shalom's demand on Sunday is a threat to relations between
Lebanon and Syria, Obeid said.
-
- "It violates all the rules of sovereignty and the
legitimate resolutions upon which Lebanon bases its relationship with Syria
and the Syrian presence in Lebanon," the foreign minister told reporters.
-
- Syria has an estimated 20,000 troops stationed in Lebanon,
and dominates its smaller neighbor politically.
-
- Damascus is also closely linked to the Lebanese fundamentalist
Shiite movement Hezbollah, whose guerrillas are based in southern Lebanon,
and is routinely blamed by Israel for any attack on its troops in the disputed
border region.
-
- Shalom said Syria had been "occupying" Lebanon
since 1976 and "stealing its resources, and it is time for the world
to order it to leave."
-
- He called on "the countries of the free world to
start a diplomatic campaign" to force a withdrawal of Syrian troops
from Lebanon and said he had raised the issue with UN Secretary General
Kofi Annan.
-
- Obeid said Shalom's comments show "how much the
Lebanese-Syrian alliance bothers Israel, to the extent of pushing it to
throw out all the rules and to lack a minimum of decency."
-
- Shalom's comments came just days after Prime Minister
Ariel Sharon threatened Hezbollah with an unprecedented response if the
Lebanese Shiite militia, which is backed by Syria and Iran, took any renewed
action against Israel.
-
- He was specifically referring to threats by Hezbollah
to kidnap more Israeli soldiers in the wake of a German-brokered prisoner
swap on Thursday.
-
- Israel freed hundreds of Palestinians and Arab prisoners
in exchange for an Israeli businessman and the bodies of three of its soldiers.
-
- Sharon has practically ruled out a renewal of peace talks
with Syria.
-
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broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority
of Agence France Presse.
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