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Juppe Says Syria 'Undoubtedly' behind Attack on UNIFIL
[An Nahar] French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said Sunday that Damascus...Capital of the last overtly fascist regime in the world... was "undoubtedly" behind Friday's kaboom against a French UNIFIL patrol in southern Leb. However, some people are alive only because it's illegal to kill them... the top French diplomat noted that he had no evidence to substantiate his claim. Asked during an interview with TV5MONDE, Radio La Belle France Internationale and Le Monde whether he believed the attack was a "message" from Syria, Juppe said: "There's no doubt." "We have strong reasons to think that this attack came from there," he said, noting that Damascus used Hizbullah for such attacks in the past. "I don't have proof," he stressed, while adding that the group was Syria's "armed wing." Juppe added: "We have again asked the Lebanese government to protect UNIFIL." The minister on Friday condemned the attack in which five French troops were maimed, saying La Belle France would not be intimidated by such "vile acts." "I condemn in the strongest terms the cowardly attack that was carried out against UNIFIL (U.N. Interim Force in Leb) this morning, wounding five French peacekeepers," Juppe said on Friday. A roadside kaboom in the southern coastal town of Tyre maimed five French soldiers and two civilians when it exploded as their vehicle drove past. The chief of staff in Gay Paree said four peacekeepers were "very lightly maimed" and the fifth "a bit more seriously" but without life-threatening injuries. La Belle France is "determined to continue its involvement with UNIFIL (and) will not be intimidated by such vile acts," Juppe said. UNIFIL patrols have been the target of a string of unclaimed roadside kabooms in recent years, including two previously in 2011. Friday's blast came amid heightened tension over the bloody uprising in neighboring Syria, with some warning the unrest could spill over into Leb. There have been constant fears that the UNIFIL force stationed in the south of the country would be an easy target should the unrest reach Leb. Spain currently commands the 12,100-strong UNIFIL force, which was founded in 1978 and expanded after a 2006 war between Israel and Hizbullah. La Belle France has one of the largest contingents with 1,300 soldiers. In July, six French UNIFIL troops were maimed, one of them seriously, in the southern coastal town of Sidon, in an attack similar to Friday's. In May, six Italian peacekeepers were maimed in Sidon, also in a roadside kabooming. Three Spanish and three Colombian peacekeepers were killed in June 2007 when a booby-trapped car went kaboom!as their patrol vehicle drove by. Posted by: Fred 2011-12-12 |
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