Question of Palestine – situation in Lebanon – Letter from United Arab Emirates, LAS

THE SITUATION IN THE MIDDLE EAST

QUESTION OF PALESTINE

Letter dated 17 March 1978 from the Permanent Representative of

the United Arab Emirates to the United Nations addressed to the

Secretary-General

In my capacity as Chairman of the Arab Group for the month of March 1978. I have the honour to enclose herewith a letter dated 15 March 1978, addressed to you by His Excellency Mr. Mahmoud Riad, Secretary-General of the League of Arab States.

I request that my letter, together with the letter from the Secretary-General of the League of Arab States, be issued as an official document of the General Assembly under items 30 and 31 of the preliminary list.

A/33/50.

ANNEX

Letter dated 15 March 1978 from the Secretary-General of the

League of Arab States to the Secretary-General*

The Israeli forces launched an aggression last night against an Arab country, a member of the Arab League and the United Nations. This aggression took the form of actual war on the part of Israel using land, sea and air forces.

The Israeli Defence Minister declared today that the Israeli forces will continue its occupation of southern Lebanon in order to maintain discipline, an excuse previously claimed by colonizing countries to occupy the land of others.

This Israeli aggression led to the killing of a great number of Lebanese civilians. Moreover, it is aimed at exterminating the Palestinian people whose land has already been usurped by Israel and who have been forced out of their homeland to live in refuge in Lebanon.

This Israeli aggression and the occupation of new Arab territories creates serious repercussions, the threat of which is not merely limited to the region of the Middle East.

The situation requires your immediate intervention in your capacity as Secretary-General of the United Nations to put an end to Israeli aggression and secure immediate Israeli withdrawal from Lebanese lands.

(Signed) Mahmoud RIAD      

See also S/126OU, annex IV.