DATE=12/19/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=ISRAEL/LEBANON (S&L)
NUMBER=2-257292
BYLINE=ROSS DUNN
DATELINE=JERUSALEM
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: Lebanese militiamen who have backed Israeli
troops have formally applied for refuge in the Jewish
State. Ross Dunn reports from Jerusalem the
militiamen fear they will risk death at the hands of
Islamic militants if they are left behind following a
planned withdrawal of Israeli troops from southern
Lebanon during the next seven months.
TEXT: For nearly 15-years, members of the South
Lebanon Army -- the S-L-A -- have supported Israeli
troops trying to protect the northern border of the
Jewish state.
But the fate of an estimated 17-thousand S-L-A
soldiers and their families -- most of them Lebanese
Christians -- has been thrown into question by
Israel's pledge to withdraw its troops from a self-
declared security zone in southern Lebanon by July,
2000.
Prospects for the troop pullback improved following
Israel's resumption of peace talks with Syria. Israel
wants Syria, which controls Lebanon militarily, to
ensure its soldiers can withdraw safely.
But S-L-A commanders say their battalions would be
exposed to a massacre by guerrilla fighters from the
Hezbollah (the Party of God).
// REST OPT FOR LONG //
The S-L-A soldiers, acting through an Israeli lawyer
(Sunday), petitioned the Supreme Court in Jerusalem to
be given a home inside the Jewish State.
The lawyer, Zvi Rish, says there is no doubt that the
S-L-A members will be slaughtered by the Hezbollah if
they are left behind.
Yossi Peled, a former Israeli army commander in
southern Lebanon, told Israel Radio that it is also
likely the wives and children of S-L-A soldiers will
be murdered unless they are removed from the area.
In another sign that a troop withdrawal from southern
Lebanon is imminent, Israel plans to solicit bids for
security projects to strengthen its northern frontier.
The Israeli Defense Ministry will soon offer contracts
to improve warning systems, fencing and army posts
along the Lebanese border. (SIGNED)
NEB/RD/DW/RAE
19-Dec-1999 10:42 AM EDT (19-Dec-1999 1542 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
.
|
NEWSLETTER
|
|
Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list
|
|
|
