Lebanon situation/Militias – SecGen seventh report under S/RES/1701 (2006) (excerpts)

 Report of the Secretary-General on the implementation

of Security Council resolution 1701 (2006)

 I.  Introduction 

1.   The present report is the seventh report of the Secretary-General on the implementation of Security Council resolution 1701 (2006). It provides a comprehensive assessment of the steps taken to implement resolution 1701 (2006) since the previous report of the Secretary-General was issued on 28 February 2008 (S/2008/135) and highlights both the progress made in the implementation of the resolution and areas of concern that continue to impede the establishment of a permanent ceasefire and a long-term solution between the parties. The present report also proposes measures that could be undertaken by the parties in the coming months with a view to achieving a permanent ceasefire and a long-term solution to the 2006 conflict.

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 II.   Implementation of Security Council resolution 1701 (2006)

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 C.  Disarming armed groups

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33.   Another serious threat to the stability and sovereignty of Lebanon is posed by non-Lebanese armed groups. In my previous report on the implementation of Security Council resolution 1559 (2004) (S/2008/264), I highlighted the threat posed by Palestinian and other armed groups inside and outside the 12 officially registered refugee camps. During the reporting period, there were several incidents in or around Palestinian camps, in particular in and around the Ein el-Hilweh camp in Sidon, around the Nahr al-Bared camp in northern Lebanon, as well as near the city of Tripoli in the north. Seven people were killed and 26 injured as a result. In one of those incidents, which occurred on 31 May 2008 near the entrance of Nahr al-Bared, a Lebanese Armed Forces outpost was targeted by an explosion that killed one soldier.

 D.  Arms embargo 

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37.   There has been no change regarding the continued presence of the heavily armed positions belonging to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command and Fatah al-Intifada that straddle the border. As noted in my previous reports, that anomaly effectively gives such groups, which operate outside the authority of the State of Lebanon, practical control of that part of the border. The Lebanese Armed Forces maintains its defensive encirclement of those positions on the Lebanese side of the frontier in order to reduce the potential threat that the situation poses to the security and stability of the State of Lebanon.

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 V.  Observations 

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72.   I remain concerned at the living conditions in the Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon and in particular by the conditions facing displaced Palestinians in the Nahr al-Bared camp and the Lebanese communities surrounding it. While some progress has been made towards addressing the immediate needs of the people affected by the 2007 conflict there, much work remains to be done, which will require the sustained support of Member States. In that regard, I would like to express my appreciation for the support extended by Member States at the international donor conference held in Vienna on 23 June for the reconstruction of the Nahr al-Bared camp, where an initial sum of $112 million was pledged.

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