Violation de l'espace aérien libanais par l'aviation israélienne
Libnanews
21-06-2007
L'aviation israélienne a une nouvelle fois violé l'espace aérien libanais en effectuant des survols à basse et moyenne attitude des régions de Jezzine, Natatieh, Tyr où des bang supersoniques ont été entendus. Le bruit des avions a été entendu jusqu'aux régions du Kesrouan et du Metn, au nord de Beyrouth.
La chasse israélienne a également survolé la région de la Békaa, à l'est du Liban.
Le secrétaire général de l'ONU avait dénoncé dans son dernier rapport ses violations de l'espace aérien libanais, les considérant comme une infraction à la résolution 1701 du Conseil de Sécurité votée en août 2006 et qui avait mis fin à la guerre opposant Israël au Hezbollah. Army, militants trade fire on day 33 of Lebanon camp siege
22-06-2007
AFP + Doha Time
NAHR AL BARED, Lebanon: Lebanese soldiers and militants yesterday traded fire on the 33rd day of a refugee camp siege as mediators tried to end a battle the army says will continue to the bitter end.
The military responded with tank and mortar shells to machine-gun fire from Fatah al-Islam fighters, even as Palestinian clerics continued to try to mediate.
Since Wednesday, the army has been deployed in the new sector of Nahr al Bared, a high-rise spillover from the original Palestinian refugee camp.
The remaining pockets of resistance are now thought to be concentrated within the perimeter of the original camp, one of the 12 UN-registered sites housing an estimated half of the 400,000 Palestinian refugees in Lebanon.
“A number of the militants are now in the old camp, and this should not have happened,” an army spokesman said.
“We are determined to reply to each and every bullet fired at us, even if they use people’s homes.”
Troops continued to secure their grip on the newer sector after pounding it almost non-stop with high explosives for weeks.
An army sergeant behind the lines said on condition of anonymity the militants were “like rats.” “When they open fire from one position, we spot them and reply with everything we’ve got. But it’s often too late - the shooter has already gone,” he said.
The Western-backed government of Prime Minister Fuad Siniora and the military have both said the battle will only end once the militants have been wiped out or surrender.
Palestinian clerics met army intelligence chief General Georges Khoury on Wednesday for talks on deploying a Palestinian force between the two sides, but there was no news of any breakthrough yesterday.
About 2,000 refugees are thought to be still inside Nahr al Bared.
At least 141 people, including 74 soldiers, have been killed in the deadliest internal violence since the end of the 1975-90 civil war that comes amid increasing political and security insecurity in deeply divided Lebanon.
The Fatah al-Islam toll is not known, but at least 50 militants are known to have been killed since the standoff began on May 20.
Syria on Wednesday closed a third border crossing with Lebanon, citing the clashes at Nahr al Bared.
“The closure of the border post with Lebanon does not mean the border with that country will be closed,” Syrian Vice President Faruq al-Shara told reporters in Damascus yesterday.
“The border will not be closed unless Syria-Lebanon ties deteriorate to the point of no return.”
Lebanon’s parliamentary majority charges that Fatah al-Islam is linked to Syrian intelligence services seeking to stir insecurity, an allegation Damascus denies.
Amid the fighting in the north, Israeli warplanes overflew southern and eastern Lebanon yesterday in the most serious airspace violation since February and in defiance of a UN resolution.
The port cities of Tyre, Sidon and Hezbollah strongholds at Nabatiyeh in the south and Baalbek in eastern Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley were all buzzed by four low-flying jets, causing sonic booms, police said.
In Beirut, an Arab League delegation held a third day of talks with Lebanese leaders in a bid to break the political stalemate plaguing the country for seven months.
Lebanon has been paralysed by a seemingly unbridgable rift between its pro- and anti-Syrian camps since the opposition, led by the powerful Iran- and Syria-backed Shia group Hezbollah, quit the cabinet last November.
Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki welcomed any effort to kickstart Lebanese dialogue and said “the security and stability of Lebanon are very important for the Islamic republic.”
But in Paris, the French foreign ministry announced that a meeting of Lebanese leaders scheduled for next week had been postponed and could now take place in mid-July. – AFP Paris appelle Israël au respect de l’espace aérien libanais
L'Orient le Jour
22-06-2007
La France a appelé hier Israël au respect de l’espace aérien libanais et condamné les « violations de la ligne bleue ».
« Nous condamnons ces violations de la ligne bleue et appelons au respect de l’espace aérien libanais et de la souveraineté de ce pays, conformément aux résolutions pertinentes du Conseil de sécurité des Nations unies », a déclaré le porte-parole du ministère français des Affaires étrangères et européennes, Jean-Baptiste Mattéi.
L’aviation israélienne avait survolé hier à basse altitude le sud et l’est du pays. Il s’agit des survols les plus intenses depuis le début de l’année.
« Nous avons noté que des survols très intenses et intrusifs avaient eu lieu depuis le début de la semaine », a souligné le porte-parole.