Secretary-General's joint press conference with Foreign Minister Abdul Ilah Khatib of Jordan
(Secretary-General's remarks only)
Press events | Kofi Annan, Former Secretary-General
I was also able to brief His Majesty on the deployment of the stabilization force and the fact that we are trying to move very quickly to double the presence of the international troops. We hope to be able to bring in altogether 5,000 troops in addition to the Lebanese troops that have been designated to deploy to the south. I expect, and I did make this clear to the Israeli authorities, that when the international forces have reached 5,000 and are deploying to the south with the Lebanese that its time for them to withdraw and withdraw completely from southern Lebanon.
That withdrawal is important because it will help stabilize the cease-fire. As long as they are on the territory there are Lebanese who believe the occupation is still going on and you never know with miscalculations anything could happen. But luckily the Israelis themselves do not want to stay so we should get the withdrawal very quickly.
The other thing that I would want to say is that the king himself has been very active in the region trying to search for a peaceful settlement to the dispute. And I myself have had the chance of staying in touch with him over this critical period by phone. And he has indicated that he would continue to play a role and support the Arab League initiative for the Security Council to act on revitalizing the peace process. And of course even though we have gone through a very difficult period, I still believe we have an opportunity or a chance to turn the tragic events of recent weeks into something more constructive and turn a page and establish a normal reasonable relationship between Lebanon and Israel. And I believe if 1701 is implemented with goodwill and in earnest we will achieve it. And having visited both countries my sense is that the governments of Israel and Lebanon are serious about the implementation of 1701. And as I have indicated, 1701 will have to be implemented in its entirety. And I am here in the region to seek support for effective implementation and also to help firm up the political underpinnings of a future cease-fire agreement.
You have heard the minister and the king call for the lifting of the blockade, which I think is a reasonable request. Here is a country that has been through war and is now entering the period of recovery and reconstruction. And it will need to bring in lots of material. It will need to get its commercial activities going. With that sort of blockade lots of businessmen and lots of people are going to be held back. And I think it is important that that is lifted and not be seen as collective punishment of the Lebanese people, and Israel itself has said it has no quarrel with the Lebanese people. But of course they also have their demands.
But in any event, I think that the blockade cannot be sustained for long. We in the international community will work with the regional leaders and players here to ensure that we do implement 1701 and build on it to stabilize relations. Not only between Lebanon and Israel, but eventually revitalize the peace process on all tracks. Because that is the only way we are going to know peace in the region. Perhaps we should pause here and take your questions.
Q: (in Arabic)
SG: The only thing that I would like to add is that this would be a truly international force. Of course, Europe has provided a large number of forces and they, as I have indicated, are the backbone of the force. But we will be bringing in troops from other regions. There will be Islamic troops on the ground Indonesia, Malaysia, Turkey has also offered -- once it goes through its parliamentary procedure –and others will come. So we will have an international force with troops coming in from both western and Islamic countries.
Q: Mr. Secretary-General, some of your officials have been very strong in their comments about the use of cluster bombs by Israel, do you think they are guilty of war crimes in the use of cluster bombs in the recent conflict?
SG: I think that in war situations we need to be extremely careful to protect civilians. Throughout this conflict I called for the protection of civilians, protection of civilian infrastructure and the need to spare civilians the kind of misery they have gone through. I think those kinds of weapons should not be used in civilian and populated areas and we are working very hard through our mine-action unit to de-mine as quickly as possible. I ask the Israeli authorities to give us maps and indications of where these bombs were dropped so that we could map them to protect the civilians and move very quickly to disarm them. Of course, we have to understand even if there is one mine in the field it is the kind of weapon that long after the conflict it lies there silently waiting to maim and kill. And that knowledge of one bomb or two cluster bombs keeps farmers away from their fields. So it is extremely important that we do de-mine. And of course the High Commissioner for Human Rights has asked for an investigation and has set up a panel of experts to look into this. And I would await the results of this investigation and their report.
Q: (in Arabic)
SG: I think I have made my position quite clear I believe that the embargo should be lifted and will be lifted. It cannot be sustained for long. I think it is a question of time I would rather see it sooner rather than later and it will be lifted it cannot sustained. It is unsustainable
Q: [inaudible]
SG: The question was about the Israeli soldier and the Lebanese prisoners. Let me say that I have not seen the document you are referring to, but I have had discussions in Lebanon and in Israel and I believe that measures and steps are being taken that I hope, sooner rather than latter, will lead to positive developments on this issue.
Q: Do you see the international community moving closer to imposing sanctions on Iran in light of its negative response for its nuclear programme.
SG: That is an issue in the hands of the Security Council now that the deadline has passed. I know that there are attempts being made to organize a meeting between Iran and the other six players. The meeting has not taken place yet. Even though the deadline has expired, I don't think the Council is going to act tomorrow. I will need to be in touch with the players to find out how they intend to proceed and I am not sure that they are ready to take the kind of action you want. But of course that is one of the options or they may want to go another route. I will need further consultations with them.