DATE=5/5/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=LEBANON / ATTACK REACT (L-ONLY)
NUMBER=2-262025
BYLINE=EDWARD YERANIAN
DATELINE=BEIRUT
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: There was angry reaction in Lebanon
today/Friday to raids by Israeli warplanes that
damaged part of the nation's power grid. The
escalation of tensions between Lebanon and Israel
came on the second day of a visit to Beirut by U-
N special envoy Terje Larsen, who is trying to
resolve differences between Lebanon and Israel
over its impending withdrawal. Edward Yeranian
reports from Beirut:
TEXT: Lebanese government officials reacted
angrily, to overnight bombing raids by Israeli
warplanes, which knocked out electricity to over
one third of the country.
Prime Minister Selim Hoss called the Israeli
raids "barbaric" and demanded that the five
permanent members of the U-N Security Council put
"immediate pressure on Israel to stop attacking
civilian targets." Prime Minister Hoss asked the
international community to "force Israel to stop
aggressing Lebanon."
Lebanon's President, Emile Lahoud, charged Israel
with "attempting to torpedo United Nations
resolution 425 by imposing unacceptable
conditions."
Resolution 425, passed in 1978, calls on Israel
to withdraw unilaterally from southern Lebanon.
Israel has said it will leave by July.
Lebanese government television showed film
footage of flames sprouting from a power
substation knocked out by Israeli planes. It was
the third time in less than a year that Israeli
planes attacked Beirut's power grid.
/// OPT /// In addition to damaging part of
Lebanon's power grid, Israeli warplanes also blew
up an ammunition dump close to the Syrian border
and fired a rocket at a Syrian army checkpoint on
the main Beirut-Damascus highway. /// END OPT ///
Israel has repeatedly accused Syria of
orchestrating attacks by Hezbollah guerillas on
its troops in southern Lebanon. Syria has
evacuated at least a dozen army checkpoints and
redeployed troops in recent weeks.
The current flare-up of violence between Lebanon
and Israel comes as United Nations special envoy
Terje Larsen attempts to negotiate deployment of
U-N peacekeepers along Lebanon's international
border with Israel, once Israel pulls out.
(Signed)
NEB/EY/GE/KL
05-May-2000 09:54 AM EDT (05-May-2000 1354 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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