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UN peacekeeping chief expresses commitment to support Lebanon

15 May 2013 02:04 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. The UN peacekeeping chief on Tuesday reaffirmed the organization's commitment to work with the Lebanese authorities to safeguard the country against negative regional developments, APA reports quoting Xinhua.

Following his meeting in Beirut with senior government officials including President Michel Sleiman, the Under-Secretary- General for Peacekeeping Operations Herve Ladsous said that "the United Nations places the utmost importance on security and stability in Lebanon, particularly during these extremely turbulent times," UN spokesman Martin Nesirky told reporters here at a daily news briefing.

Discussions in the meetings were focused on the situation in the area of operations of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), and the cooperation between UNIFIL and the Lebanese Armed Forces ( LAF) in southern Lebanon, according to a news release.

Ladsous assured his interlocutors of the UN's complete support and engagement at every level to bolster the efforts of the Lebanese leadership to safeguard Lebanon from the negative impact of regional developments, Nesirky said.

UNIFIL and LAF have been in high alert after Israeli warplanes carried out air strikes on Syria through Lebanese air space earlier this month.

The security situation in Lebanon and in the region has been increasingly threatened by the turmoil in neighboring Syria. UN figures show that there are now nearly 453,000 Syrian refugees in Lebanon.

Established in 1978, UNIFIL is tasked with ensuring that the area between the so-called Blue Line separating Israel and Lebanon and the Litani River is free of unauthorized weapons, personnel and assets. It also cooperates with the LAF so they can fulfill their security responsibilities.