LEBANON IS NOT AT WAR WITH PALESTINE, LEBANESE AMBASSADOR ASSURES

Noyan Tapan
Jun 01 2007

YEREVAN, JUNE 1, NOYAN TAPAN. Clashes of Lebanese army with
Palestine assault detachments are not a war between Lebanon and
Pelestine. Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Lebanon
to Armenia Gabriel Geara stated this at the June 1 meeting with
journalists.

In Ambassador’s words, the army’s actions are aimed against the
Fath al-Islam extremist grouping, which includes representatives of
various countries.

The latters secretly entered Lebanon and concentrated in Nahr al
Barid Palestine camp. During May Fath al-Islam’s militants attacked
positions of Lebanese army in Tripoli, as a result of which more then
thirty Lebanese servicemen were killed. The organization is also
responsible for a number of explosions in the country. In Gabriel
Geara’s words, stating that the actions are aimed against Israel,
the grouping indeed has the goal to damage country’s security and to
undermine Lebanon. Mentioning that the grouping, in which Lebanese
make 10%, does not receive any assistance inside the country, at the
same time, he did not exclude that Fath al-Islam, which has financial
resources and arms and ammunitions, is assisted from outside. As the
Ambassador affirmed, the above mentioned clashes cannot be a basis
for resumption of a civil war in the country.

In Ambassador’s words, the authorities of Palestine and another
groupings of that country condemned Fath al-Islam’s actions. The Arab
League and the UN Security Council also made statements of the kind.

Gabriel Geara said that the Lebanese government will continue
assisting Palestine and the people of that country. He reminded that
at present there are nearly 400 thousand Palestinians in 8 Palestine
camps in Lebanon. Though these camps have autonomous status and the
Lebanese army, according to the agreement, does not enter the camps,
nevertheless, in Ambassador’s words, if the militants continue
using the camps as a point of support, the army will have to break
the agreement. The Lebanese government tries to take out peaceful
population of Palestine from camps. The peaceful population is
involuntarily used by militants.

Answering journalists’ questions, the Ambassador said that the Turkish
contingent functioning in the staff of peacekeepers located in Lebanon,
against penetrating which country’s Armenian community protested,
functions exclusively within the limits of the UN peacekeeping
mandate. On the whole, in Gabriel Geara’s words, the Armenian
population of Lebanon, which did nor suffer during the civil war,
continues to be far from places of clashes today and no danger
threatens to it.

In response to the question about Lebanon’s position in connection
with the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, the Ambassador said that this
issue is not primary for his country’s foreign policy. In Gabriel
Geara’s words, Lebanon together with Azerbaijan is a member of Arab
League. As regards votings on that issue in UN, in Ambassador’s words,
Lebanon has always shown a neutral position in this issue.