Beirut – U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said Monday he would choose a negotiator to mediate between Hezbollah and Israel to win the release of two Israeli soldiers whose capture July 12 triggered 34 days of war in Lebanon. Israeli officials, however, said Annan had agreed to seek the soldiers’ unconditional release and insisted that negotiations were out of the question.
Meanwhile, the Lebanese government sought to reassert authority over its air and sea borders Monday in the face of a 7-week-old Israeli blockade.
Prime Minister Fuad Saniora said he would take up a German offer to help patrol the waters off Lebanon and seal the land border with Syria only after agreement on operating rules that make clear that the Lebanese military is in charge. His position flew in the face of an Israeli demand that international troops be the ones who guarantee that transport in and out of the country does not include weapons or other supplies for the Hezbollah militia.
Saniora’s stand on the continuing air and sea blockade reflected outrage among Lebanese and an effort by the government to reassert its sovereignty after a month-long war during which Hezbollah, the militant Shiite Muslim movement, was making the country’s vital decisions on war and peace. With its demand that foreign troops police the ports and border, Israel has prolonged a situation in which some of the most important government functions – security and border controls – are being assumed by others.
Hezbollah has told Saniora it will not oppose assignment of U.N. troops to help the Lebanese navy patrol offshore or to monitor Beirut’s international airport and its once-busy seaport, according to a source involved in the negotiations. The likely solution to the standoff, the source said, is for Saniora to request help from U.N. troops, who are mandated to help the Lebanese army, and for Germany to lend its assistance under the U.N. aegis.
Also Monday, Qatar’s foreign minister, Hamad al-Thani, announced in Doha that Qatar is prepared to send 200 to 300 soldiers to participate in the reinforced peacekeeping corps being set up along the Lebanon-Israel border. His offer was the first by an Arab nation to contribute to the force, which according to a U.N. cease-fire resolution is scheduled to grow from its current strength of 2,000 to around 15,000.
In Jerusalem, Miri Eisin, an Israeli government spokeswoman, denied that the U.N.’s Annan was mediating talks between the Israeli government and the Shiite militia. Rather, she said, Annan was acting on his pledge made to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert during a visit to Jerusalem last week that he would work for the soldiers’ release.
“Israel and Hezbollah do not agree on anything,” Eisin said. “But there is agreement between Israel and the United Nations that the implementation of Resolution 1701 clearly includes the unconditional release of our two kidnapped soldiers.”
Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev said of Annan: “This is part of his obligation to bring about the full implementation of Resolution 1701, which calls for the unconditional release of the hostages. We’re hopeful he can bring about an early release of our two hostages.”
