DATE=3/6/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=ISRAEL / LEBANON (L-ONLY)
NUMBER=2-259877
BYLINE=MEREDITH BUEL
DATELINE=JERUSALEM
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: Israeli warplanes have bombed guerrilla
positions in south Lebanon one day after the Israeli
cabinet voted to pull its soldiers out of Lebanon by
July. Correspondent Meredith Buel reports from
Jerusalem.
TEXT: Israeli warplanes attacked a suspected
Hezbollah guerrilla base near the villages of Majdal,
Silim, and Kabrikha in southern Lebanon.
There were no immediate reports of casualties from the
bombing raids, which took place about seven-kilometers
west of the Israeli border.
The attack came one-day after the Israeli cabinet
voted unanimously to pull all Israeli soldiers out of
southern Lebanon by July of this year.
The cabinet said in a statement Israel will work to
ensure the withdrawal occurs within the framework of a
peace accord with Syria, but government officials say
the redeployment will happen whether or not an
agreement is reached.
Prime Minister Ehud Barak called the vote an end to
the tragedy and an end to the bloodshed in Lebanon.
Israeli Foreign Minister David Levy says the decision
will test Syria's desire for peace.
Israeli Justice Minister Yossi Beilin says he hopes
the cabinet's action will prevent more casualties and
help the peace process.
// BEILIN ACT //
Well, we want to save lives and that is the main
reason for the decision. If it will also bring
(Syrian) President Assad to the negotiating
table that will be a benefit, which is a very
important one.
// END ACT //
With about 30-thousand soldiers in Lebanon, Syria is
considered the major power broker in the country.
In Damascus, a state controlled newspaper (Tishreen)
expressed skepticism about the cabinet's decision,
saying it stirs a new wave of question marks and doubt
over Israel's seriousness about peace in the region.
Iranian-backed Hezbollah guerrillas have killed seven
Israeli soldiers so far this year and the Israeli
government is facing increasing public pressure to
pull out of Lebanon.
Since 1985 Israel has maintained a 15-kilometer buffer
zone in southern Lebanon to protect its northern
communities from guerrilla attacks.
Peace talks between Israel and Syria resumed last
December, but were indefinitely suspended in January
when Damascus demanded that Israel agree, in writing,
to return the Golan Heights.
Israel captured the strategic plateau in the 1967
Middle East war and says it needs to know what
security guarantees Syria would offer as part of a
peace agreement.
Diplomats from the United States and other countries
have been working behind the scenes to get Israel and
Syria back to the bargaining table. (SIGNED)
NEB/MB/GE/RAE
06-Mar-2000 11:33 AM EDT (06-Mar-2000 1633 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
.
|
NEWSLETTER
|
|
Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list
|
|
|
