Mideast situation/Lebanon – Letter from Lebanon

Letter dated 15 April 1999 from the Permanent Representative of

Lebanon to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General

On instructions from my Government and further to our earlier letters concerning Israel's acts of aggression and other practices in southern Lebanon and the occupied areas, and with particular reference to my letter of 18 February 1999 concerning Israel's attempt to expand the area it occupies to include the village of Arnoun (A/53/834- S/1999/172), I have to inform you that on 15 April 1999 Israel sent 50 men, preceded by a Merkavah tank, an armoured personnel carrier and a jeep, into and through the same village.  In a new attempt to include it in the occupied zone in the south, they separated Arnoun from the liberated area and proceeded to arrest residents and to prevent inhabitants from entering.

In bringing this dangerous development to the attention of the Secretary-General, the members of the Security Council and the international community, the Lebanese Government urges swift action to put an end to a situation that constitutes a flagrant violation of the Charter of the United Nations and the principles of international law.  It calls attention to the need to implement resolution 425 (1978), in which the Security Council calls upon Israel to withdraw unconditionally to the internationally recognized boundaries of Lebanon.  The Lebanese Government holds Israel responsible for all material and other damage that may be done to civilians by this action.

I request you to have this letter circulated as a document of the General Assembly, under agenda item 40, and of the Security Council.

(Signed)  Samir MOUBARAK    

Ambassador      

Permanent Representative

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