(KUNA) -- The Lebanese army asserted Saturday its capability to discharge its duties across the Lebanese territories, particularly in the south, under the United Nations Security Council resolution 1701, according to a statement issued by the general directorate of the army here. The statement came in reply to the third report of the U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon on the implementation of Security Council resolution 1701 (2006). The report is submitted on quarterly basis to the Security Council in response to the SC request of December 12, 2006."The present report is submitted against the background of an acute and continuing political crisis in Lebanon and mounting Israeli concerns about the unauthorized transfer of arms across the Lebanese-Syrian border," Ban said in his report.
Asserting its capability to exercise authority over all the Lebanese territories, the army urged for more effective coordination with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) according to the standing field regulations and the technical arrangements agreed-upon by both sides. Under the UN resolution 1701which boosted the number of UNIFIL from 2,000 to 15,000, the Lebanese government deployed 15,00 troopers in the area between the Litani Rivera and the Lebanese-Israeli borders.