DATE=4/26/2000
TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT
TITLE=LEBANON / ISRAEL WITHDRAWAL
NUMBER=5-46198
BYLINE=SCOTT BOBB
DATELINE=BEIRUT
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
/// ED'S: THIS IS THE FIRST OF FIVE BACKGROUND
REPORTS ABOUT LEBANON ///
INTRO: Lebanese Prime Minister Salim al-Hoss has
announced his government's acceptance of Israel's
withdrawal from an area in southern Lebanon it has
occupied for the past 22-years. The Lebanese leader
also says his government will accept U-N troops to
maintain peace in the region. Middle East
Correspondent Scott Bobb has this report on how the
Israeli withdrawal is being received by the Lebanese.
TEXT: The Israeli government announced its intention
to withdraw unilaterally from Lebanon several-weeks
ago, but that has not changed the situation.
In the village of Salim Arab, on a hill a few-hundred
meters from the occupied zone, residents try to
survive by farming and raising cattle. But fighting
routinely disrupts their lives.
A week ago, shells struck a funeral, wounding six
people. One of these was Ibrahim Farhat, a pipefitter
in his 50's and father of seven children. He was
wounded by shrapnel in the head and legs and lost part
of a finger. He is lying at home, bandaged, in a bed
in his living room, and he is angry at the Israelis.
/// FARHAT ACT - IN ARABIC - WITH ENGLISH TRANSLATION
///
No. I do not think we can ever live in peace
with them because they believe in war. They are
not a peace-loving people. And they always want
to aggress (attack) us.
/// END ACT ///
Later in the day, the shelling resumes and authorities
advise people to stay off the streets.
/// SOUND OF SHELLING ///
Up the road in another hilltop village called Majdal,
a shell has struck a house. A distraught neighbor
named Yaman picks up a pair of bloody workpants.
/// YAMAN ACT - IN ARABIC - FADE UNDER ///
Yaman says the shell struck at dawn while people were
sleeping. One young man died, she says. Another was
screaming in pain, but people were too afraid to go
help him.
For more than -decades, Lebanese have been living with
this low-grade conflict that pits Israeli forces and
their allies of a Lebanese-Christian militia against
fighters of the Islamist-oriented Hezbollah movement.
The Israeli government has announced it will withdraw
from the buffer zone by July, saying it intends to
abide by a long-standing U-N resolution (number 242).
The Lebanese government calls it a victory for the
resistance.
In Beirut, the leader of the National Liberal Party
and son of a former president, Dory Chamoun, says it
is about time.
/// CHAMOUN ACT ///
We have been all wanting that withdrawal for a
long, long time. And this is really in the
interests of everybody. And it is definitely a
very, very sound step towards a final peace
agreement in the area.
/// END ACT ///
Nevertheless, many Lebanese are worried. They worry
that if Israel does not withdraw from all Lebanese
territory, the violence will continue.
The leader of Hezbollah, Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, told
television viewers (of the Gazira station) this week
that Hezbollah would accept the Israeli withdrawal.
/// NASRALLAH ACT - IN ARABIC - FADE UNDER ///
But the Hezbollah leader said his fighters would not
put down their weapons if Israel keeps one-meter of
Lebanese land.
// OPT // A Hezbollah member of parliament, Sayed
Amar Moussawi, told V-O-A there are additional issues
to be resolved.
/// OPT // MOUSSAWI ACT - IN ARABIC - WITH ENGLISH
TRANSLATION ///
Lebanon is also worried and concerned about the
prisoners in Israeli jails and above and beyond
that any of the damages that Israel may have
caused to Lebanon, to Lebanese people, to
Lebanese villages over the years. Lebanon will
consider that they have a right to compensation
for some of these damages.
/// END ACT // END OPT ///
The withdrawal does not resolve the deadlock in peace
negotiations between Israel and Syria, Lebanon's
predominant neighbor, and the future of 300-thousand
Palestinian refugees who have been living in Lebanon
for more than 50-years.
Lebanese political analyst Paul Salem says the Israeli
withdrawal reflects primarily the human cost of the
occupation to Israel.
/// SALEM ACT ONE ///
The withdrawal from Lebanon is also coming as an
attempt by the Israelis to lower their costs,
but at the same time to take from the Syrians
what is called the Lebanon card. In other
words, to defuse the whole Lebanese situation
and disengage it from the peace talks with Syria
and hence put more pressure on Syria.
/// END ACT ///
A political science professor at the American
University of Beirut, Nizar Hamzeh, believes the
consequences of the withdrawal will be more negative
than positive.
/// HAMZEH ACT ///
All indicators indicate to the side that
operations will continue, especially in the
absence of this peace agreement between Syria
and Israel.
/// END ACT ///
Professor Hamzeh says the Hezbollah resistance might
be expanded to include Islamist Palestinians who feel
betrayed by the negotiations between Israel and the
Palestinian Authority.
Professor Salem says the Israeli withdrawal is not
likely to bring stability to the region.
/// SALEM ACT TWO ///
Since there really will be no real peace until
Syria and Lebanon get peace on credible and
acceptable conditions with Israel, this will
unfortunately lead to a new strategic situation,
which is probably more volatile, more unstable
than even the current situation that we are in.
/// END ACT ///
Professor Salem says he believes the region is
entering a dangerous, precarious period. He says it
is aggravated by the fact that the United States, the
main mediator, has begun its presidential election
season and as result will play less of a balancing
role in the region for some time. (SIGNED)
NEB/SB/JWH/RAE
26-Apr-2000 13:27 PM EDT (26-Apr-2000 1727 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
.
|
NEWSLETTER
|
|
Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list
|
|
|
