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| Annan: Syria committed to Hezbollah weapons embargo |
| 2006-09-01 |
| United Nations secretary-general Kofi Annan says Syrian President Bashar Assad has promised to enforce an arms embargo on Hezbollah under a UN resolution that halted Israel's war with the Lebanese group. Mr Annan met with Mr Assad in Damascus, on the last part of the secretary-general's tour of the Middle East. "The President informed me that Syria supports Security Council Resolution 1701 and will help in its implementation," Mr Annan said. "While stating Syrian objections to the presence of foreign forces along the Syrian-Lebanese border, the President committed to me that Syria will take all necessary measures to implement in full paragraph 15 of the resolution," Mr Annan added, referring to a provision that bans illegal arms shipments to Lebanon. Mr Annan says Syria would beef up border security and was ready to run joint patrols with the Lebanese army. Syrian leaders have been angered by an Israeli demand for international troops to deploy on the Lebanese-Syrian border, the main conduit in the past for Hezbollah weapons supplies. Lebanon, which has sent 8,600 soldiers to patrol the frontier, says it has no plans to ask UN troops to join them. Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem told reporters later that no weapons were crossing from his country to the guerrillas in Lebanon. "No arms are being smuggled to the resistance (Hezbollah) from Syria," he said. |
| Posted by:Oztralian |