Mideast situation/Lebanon – Joint statement following consultations between For. Ministers of Lebanon and Syria – Letter from Lebanon

Letter dated 2 July 2001 from the Permanent Representative of Lebanon

to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General

On instructions from my Government, I have the honour to inform you that on Saturday, 30 June 2001, the ministers for foreign affairs of Lebanon and Syria held consultations on the latest Israeli threats and that the two ministries subsequently issued the statement I am transmitting to you herewith (see annex).

I should be grateful if you would have this letter and its annex circulated as a document of the General Assembly, under agenda item 40, and of the Security Council.

(Signed) Sélim Tadmoury

Ambassador

Permanent Representative

Annex to the letter dated 2 July 2001 from the Permanent Representative of Lebanon

to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General

Statement issued in Beirut and Damascus on 30 June 2001 following consultations

between Mr. Mahmoud Hammoud, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Lebanon, and

Mr. Farouk Al-Shara’, Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Syrian Arab Republic,

following the latest Israeli threats

We have noted the statements made by officials in Israel concerning yesterday’s act of resistance to the Israeli occupation in the occupied Lebanese Shab`a farmlands and the allegations made in those statements concerning the weapons used by the resistance against the Israeli occupation. We have also noted the Israeli threats against Syria and Lebanon that have been made despite the statement conveyed to Lebanon yesterday by the representative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations to the effect that Israel had undertaken to cease its violations of Lebanon’s airspace.

In this connection we should like international public opinion and the Security Council, and in particular its permanent members, to be aware of the following:

1. The defensive weapons that the resistance possesses cannot be compared with the weapons of mass destruction that Israel has and that it constantly uses to threaten Lebanon and Syria. The weapons of the resistance are not comparable with the Israeli warplanes that patrol the skies of Lebanon on a daily basis, that attack its people, its territory and its infrastructure and that are constantly violating Lebanon’s international boundaries. The weapons of the resistance also do not compare with the heavy artillery and battle tanks that kill innocent people, destroy homes and set fire to woodlands and forests. These attacks constitute a provocation that must be condemned. They represent aggression against Lebanon’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and an international community that believes in a just and comprehensive peace must put an end to it.

2. Both before Israel’s withdrawal from southern Lebanon in May 2000 and subsequently, Lebanon has affirmed its right under the Charter of the United Nations and the relevant international covenants to liberate its territory using all legitimate means.

3. Lebanon and Syria reject these threats, they will hold Israel responsible for the consequences of any new aggression and for the repercussions it might have in the region as a whole, and they alert the international community to the danger of these threats for the deteriorating situation in the region and for international peace and security.

4. Lebanon and Syria affirm their commitment to international legitimacy, to the Madrid formula, to the necessary implementation of Security Council resolutions 242 (1967), 338 (1973) and 425 (1978), and to the principle of land for peace. This is our fixed and established position with a view to achieving the goals for which we strive.

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