Annan to work to free Israeli hostages in Lebanon
By Nadim Ladki
Mon Sep
4,
4:16 PM ET
BEIRUT (Reuters) - U.N. Secretary-General
Kofi Annan said on Monday he would appoint a secret envoy to work for the release of the two Israeli soldiers whose capture by Lebanon's Hizbollah group triggered a month-long war.
Israeli officials said Annan's role was to secure the release of the soldiers, not to mediate. Hizbollah gave a cautious response, backing only indirect negotiations to secure an exchange of prisoners from both sides.
"The two sides have accepted the efforts of the secretary-general to help solve this problem," Annan told a news conference in Saudi Arabia. "I will appoint a person to work secretly with the two sides ... I will not announce his name today or tomorrow," he said, according to an Arabic interpreter.
The unconditional release of the soldiers, whose capture by Hizbollah guerillas in a cross-border raid on July 12 sparked a 34-day war, is called for in the preamble to the U.N. resolution that brought about a cease-fire.
The same preamble also "encourages" the settling of the issue of Lebanese prisoners detained in
Israel.
Hizbollah, which sits in the Lebanese government, wants to exchange the Israeli soldiers for Lebanese in Israeli jails.
A top Hizbollah official, Energy Minister Mohammed Fneish, said he could not comment on any role for Annan, but added:
"We agree to a basic principle which is to conduct a prisoner exchange through indirect negotiations. Who is the channel is a detail."
"NO NEGOTIATIONS"
Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev said Israel's official position remained that it would not enter into any negotiations to free the soldiers.
An Israeli government official said: "A mediator is not needed ... The U.N. resolution determines that soldiers will be released unconditionally. The U.N. Secretary-General will assist, and not mediate."
However, Hizbollah and Israel have been involved in prisoner exchanges in the past, and a top Israeli political source said last week that the Jewish state would be willing to discuss freeing Lebanese prisoners for the soldiers if negotiations were conducted through the Lebanese government, not with Hizbollah.
Annan's spokesman Ahmad Fawzi said the precise definition of the role of Annan's envoy was not an issue.
"What we are trying to achieve is the release of the soldiers," he said. "I really don't want to go into the definitions. The main issue is that he has offered his good offices and they have been accepted."
Separately, the Lebanese government agreed to file a complaint to the
U.N. Security Council over Israel's air and sea blockade, which remains in place despite the truce. Israel says it has kept its embargo to prevent Hizbollah from rearming.
The government also agreed to ask U.N. peacekeepers to help secure Lebanon's coast, despite reservations by Hizbollah. Germany says it is waiting for an official Lebanese request to contribute naval forces to an expanded U.N. peacekeeping force.
"WITHDRAWAL ON TRACK"
Major-General Alain Pellegrini, commander of U.N. peacekeepers, said a meeting with Lebanese and Israeli officers had put "on the right track" a full Israeli troop withdrawal from Lebanon in line with the U.N. resolution, and the deployment of Lebanese troops backed by the U.N. force.
The
United Nations has said the pullout will be completed once the number of peacekeepers, now 3,100, reaches 5,000.
Qatar, which maintains low-level ties with Israel, also said it would send 200 to 300 troops to the expanded U.N. force, becoming the first Arab contributor.
Some 200 French troops left Toulon for Lebanon to join around 900 Italians who landed in south Lebanon at the weekend.
The shipping industry newspaper Lloyd's List was due to report on Tuesday that Israel was now allowing certain ships, mainly tankers carrying petroleum products and ships ferrying aid, to enter Lebanese ports.
Qatar Airways resumed its direct service to Beirut, despite Israel's demand that all such flights pass through Amman, Jordan, for security reasons. The first Qatar Airways plane landed in Beirut with 142 passengers on board.
(Additional reporting by Doha, Jerusalem, Paris, London and Dubai bureau)
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