Annan Has Stern Words for Israel, Hezbollah
    By Borzou Daragahi
    The Los Angeles Times

    Monday 28 August 2006

    Beirut - United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan said today that both Israel and the Hezbollah militia must come into quick compliance with the terms of a shaky cease-fire, demanding the release of Israeli soldiers captured by the armed Shiite group and the lifting of the air, sea and land blockade imposed by the Israeli military.

    Annan, here at the start of an 11-day tour of the Middle East, said that the soldiers taken in a July 12 raid by Hezbollah must be freed and possibly handed over to a third party such as the International Committee of the Red Cross.

    He also said the U.N. is "working for the lifting of the siege," which was referred to in the Security Council resolution that ended the fighting two weeks ago.

    Annan warned that failure by either party to abide by the terms of the Security Council resolution could restart the fighting.

    "It's a fixed menu," Annan said in response to complaints from both Israel and Hezbollah about the other side's noncompliance with the resolution. "It's not a smorgasbord or an la carte where you can pick and choose."

    The conflict between Israel and Hezbollah left more than a 1,000 civilians dead on both sides, severely damaged civilian infrastructure in Lebanon and drained the economies of both Israel and Lebanon.

    Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah in a Sunday night television interview all but admitted that his organization was guilty of gross miscalculation in launching the raid, saying he would have never allowed the operation if he had known it would have wrought so much damage.

    The monthlong conflict has reinvigorated domestic and international calls for the disarming of Hezbollah. The group used Iranian and Syrian support to build itself into a formidable army as well as a political party and social services organization during the 18 years that Israeli occupied southern Lebanon. It continued to arm after Israel's withdrawal from the country six years ago.

    Annan reaffirmed that the thousands of international peacekeeping troops that the U.N. plans to send to southern Lebanon would have the authority to defend themselves and civilians, but would not actively disarm Hezbollah or any other militiamen.

    "This is something that the Lebanese government and people are going to have to resolve," he told reporters at the press conference, held beneath stained glass windows and ornate chandeliers in a cavernous ballroom inside the government headquarters, called the Serai.

    U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701, which put in place a cessation of hostilities, calls for the "unconditional release of the abducted Israeli soldiers" captured in a cross-border raid by Hezbollah fighters - the move that sparked the 34 days of fighting.

    The resolution also calls for Israel and Lebanon to respect their border and for Israel to remove the air, sea and land blockade it has imposed on Lebanon since the early days of the conflict.

    Despite Annan's appeal, Israel gave no sign that it plans to lift the blockade so long as there are no provisions preventing the rearming of Hezbollah.

    "Israel maintains that the air and naval blockade are necessary until the international forces are deployed in order to prevent weapons smuggling to Hezbollah," said David Baker, an official in the office of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

    At the end of the press conference, a reporter asked whether Annan knew the whereabouts of the detained Israeli soldiers, eliciting chuckles from the assembled politicians and U.N. officials.

    "That's the $10-million question," said Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Saniora.