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Israel’s Netanyahu to meet with UN secretary general

08 November 2010 23:31 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was to meet late Monday with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon for discussions, which Israeli media said would include the issue of ending the occupation of Ghajar, APA reports quoting Earth Times.

Netanyahu was in the United States to address annual conferences of major Jewish organizations and his meeting with Ban was to take place at UN headquarters in New York.

Media reports said that Netanyahu planned to announce the Israeli withdrawal from Ghajar, which straddles the Lebanese-Israeli border, and the return of control over the village of 2,200 inhabitants to Lebanon. The planned withdrawal would comply with UN Security Council resolution 1701, which ordered a ceasefire in the fighting between Hezbollah and the Israeli Defence Forces in 2006.

The Israeli reports said the withdrawal would strengthen the hand of Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri and his moderate political allies. But it was feared also that Ghajar would become a strategic site for Iran-backed Hezbollah.

Ghajar had changed hands numerous times in the conflict in the Middle East. The village was under control of the UN Interim Forces in southern Lebanon (UNIFIL) from 2000 until Israeli troops engaged Hezbollah in the brief war in 2006.

The planned Israeli withdrawal would come amid rising tensions in Lebanon as the UN special tribunal on the murder of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri in 2005 was reportedly preparing to announce the indictment of his murderers. Hariri was the father of the current prime minister. Hezbollah was suspected of involvement in the Hariri’s murder and any indictment against the armed militia could ignite new conflict.

The Wall Street Journal said Monday that one Hezbollah leader under investigation by the UN tribunal was Mustafa Badreddine, a senior military commander and brother-in-law of Imad Mugniyah, who was on the FBI’s most-wanted list until his death three years ago.

In Beirut, the UN special coordinator for Lebanon, Michael Williams, held talks with Lebanese government officials on Monday "on the need to improve" the implementation of resolution 1701.

Michael said, "Our talk today also naturally touched on the domestic situation in Lebanon, in light of recent tension."

He said the UN was concerned by the "possibility of escalation and stressed the importance of maintaining all channels of communication and dialogue. There can be no alternative to dialogue if we want to protect Lebanon and its future."