World>Terrorism & Security
posted September 3, 2004, updated 3:00 p.m.
UN pressures Lebanon
First Security Council resolution directed against an Arab state isolates Syria.
A United States-French resolution telling Syria to withdraw its forces from Lebanon and warning against foreign interference in Beirut's presidential election
passed the UN Security Council on Thursday, reports the
BBC.The Security Council voted 9-0 to adopt the resolution. To get the necessary nine votes, the minimum number needed, the US and France agreed "
under pressure not to mention Syria by name, although it is the only country with foreign forces in Lebanon," reports
Reuters. But despitte international concerns Lebanon's parliament
approved a constitutional amendment Friday afternoon that will extend by three years the term of its Syrian-backed president, Emile Lahoud, reports
Voice of America. The vote comes despite international concerns about Syrian influence in Lebanese politics The UN had called for "the strict respect of the sovereignty, territorial integrity, unity and political independence of Lebanon under the sole and exclusive authority of the government of Lebanon throughout Lebanon."
The Israeli paper
Haaretz notes that this is the first Security Council resolution clearly
directed against an Arab state.
'While Hezbollah is not mentioned by name, the resolution calls for the disbanding and disarming of all Lebanese and non-Lebanese militias. Diplomats and analysts said this is a direct allusion to Hezbollah.'
Most abstaining council members said they agreed with Lebanon, and thus Syria, that the Security Council measure directly interferred in the internal affairs of Lebanon and "would not contribute to a Middle East peace," reports Haaretz. Angola, Benin, Britain, Chile, Germany, Romania, and Spain joined the US and France in voting in favor of the measure. Brazil, the Philippines, Russia, Pakistan, Algeria, and China abstained from the vote. Efforts by Syria to have the Lebanese parliament pass a constitutional amendment to extend President Emile Lahoud's term by three years sparked the resolution. The presidency is currently a single six-year term. Election of a president is determined by a two-thirds majority in parliament. The UN vote "cannot be justified as part of the role given to the Security Council," the
BBC quotes Philippines Ambassador Lauro Baja as saying. The central issue is
Lebanese sovereignty writes
Washington Post columnist Nora Boustany.
As president, Lahoud has shown little independent political initiative, rubber-stamping Syria's foreign policy dictates and infringements on Lebanon's sovereignty. The policies include keeping the Iran-backed Islamic Hezbollah militia in southern Lebanon fully armed rather than deploying Lebanese troops along the border with Israel, as required by the Taif accord. That agreement, hammered out in the summer of 1989 and brokered by Saudi Arabia and the United States, ended Lebanon's civil war. The resolution also calls for the "
disbanding of all militias, which it said were compromising Lebanon's ability to govern itself," reports
The New York Times. Combined UN intervention and mounting domestic opposition has turned the debate over the presidential extension into the "
most serious crisis in Lebanese-Syrian relations since the end of Lebanon's 1975-1990 civil war," reports
The Christian Science Monitor. "This is the greatest miscalculation Syria has made in recent years," Farid Khazen, professor of politics at the American University of Beirut, told the Monitor. "The Syrians thought they could get away with imposing their man on Lebanon, but they failed to realize that the world has changed." For its part, Syrians appear to be following a simple rule - a high degree of discomfort with change:
'It is our choice that the president remain because the situation in the region is unstable and change at this time is not beneficial,' says Qassem Qanso, a minister of state, the head of the Lebanese branch of the Baath Party, and one of Syria's closest allies. Damascus argues that its troop presence in Lebanon is a stabilizing influence, reports the
BBC. Syria's involvement in Lebanon dates back to 1976, when it sent troops into Lebanon to try to end civil war. The conflict continued for another 14 years. But the troops have remained and "Damascus' military and political influence in Lebanon remains strong," reports the
BBC. Israel pulled all of its troops out of Lebanon in 2000. Syria has 17,000 troops in Lebanon and is believed to be the main backer of Hezbollah. Citing Lebanese analysts the
Monitor reports that the prospect of another three years of political and economic paralysis
spells disaster for the country.
'We've had no political life and economic life has been blocked,' says Michael Young, a Lebanese political commentator. 'And all the Syrians can do is perpetuate this.'
Also...
•
Will the Syrian regime take on the world? (
The Daily Star)
•
Thatcher posts bail to end S.Africa house arrest (
Reuters)
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