Situation in Lebanon – Letter from Lebanon

GENERAL ASSEMBLY SECURITY COUNCIL

Fiftieth session Fiftieth year

Item 44 of the preliminary list*

THE SITUATION IN THE MIDDLE EAST

Letter dated 1 March 1995 from the Permanent Representative

of Lebanon to the United Nations addressed to the          

Secretary-General

I have the honour to enclose herewith a letter from H.E. Mr. Fares Boueiz, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Lebanon, addressed to you, concerning the ongoing Israeli naval blockade of the southern port cities of Lebanon and the continuous Israeli aggression against Lebanon and its citizens.

I should be grateful if the present letter could be distributed urgently as an official document of the General Assembly under item 44 of the preliminary list, and of the Security Council.

                                                   (Signed) Samir MOUBARAK

Ambassador

Permanent Representative

________________________

* A/50/50.

95-05864 (E)   010395  010395 /…

ANNEX

Letter from the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Lebanon

addressed to the Secretary-General

[Original:  Arabic]

I have the honour to inform you that Israel's naval blockade of the city of Tyre has now spread to all port cities of southern Lebanon, affecting Sarafand as well as Sidon and Damour.  In addition, Israeli naval patrols are constantly to be found in Lebanese territorial waters, violating Lebanese sovereignty and preventing Lebanese fishermen from engaging in the fishing which is their sole livelihood.

This blockade is being accompanied daily by heavy artillery shelling and murderous air-raids which have resulted in numerous casualties among innocent civilians in southern Lebanon and in the western Bekaa and caused considerable material damage.

These mindless acts of aggression, which lack any justification, are occurring at a time when Israel is seeking to destabilize Lebanon and impede the return to normality and the reconstruction effort.  They succeed in diverting attention from the fact that Israel is seeking to thwart the implementation of the Middle East peace process in accordance with the principles endorsed by Lebanon at the Madrid Conference.

We wish to stress that we are fully justified – and this is in the interest of all the parties concerned with peace – in wanting Lebanon to remain stable and to play an effective role in the peace process.  Such a role can only be filled, however, if the Security Council implements its resolutions 425 (1978), 426 (1978) and 508 (1982), which call for Israel to withdraw all its military forces forthwith and unconditionally from the Lebanese territory it occupies in southern Lebanon and the western Bekaa.

Accordingly, while we are expressing our gratitude for your unceasing support for our country's rights, we urge you to intensify the efforts you are making in your personal capacity, and we call upon the United Nations and the Security Council to take the necessary steps to ensure that the aforementioned resolutions are implemented in order that Israel might respect the territorial sovereignty of Lebanon on land and on sea, cease its daily attacks on innocent civilians in southern Lebanon and the western Bekaa and lift its naval blockade of Lebanese coastal ports.

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