Lebanon will send a request to the UN security Council on the extension of the peacekeeping mission
The Lebanese government decided to send a request to the UN security Council to extend the mission the United Nations Interim force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) for a year, said the President of Lebanon Michel Aoun after meeting with Prime Minister Hassan Diaba, the ambassadors of the permanent members of the Security Council and the UN special representative ján kubiš.
"President Michel Aoun reiterated Lebanon's commitment to the international forces operating in southern Lebanon, UNIFIL and noted their positive role. He noted that the government had decided to send a request to the UN security Council on the extension of their mission for a year without changes to the mandate, concept of operations and rules of engagement associated with them," - says the press service of the presidential Palace.
The Lebanese leader said that the presence of UNIFIL, the need for a more regional than national. While Lebanon's commitment to the peacekeeping forces is part of the overall freedoms and complete sovereignty of the country.
Aung called for further coordination between the Lebanese army and peacekeepers under UN security Council resolution 1701 on the background of regular violations of airspace, Maritime and land border with Israel.
Earlier, the leader of the Lebanese movement "Hezbollah" Hassan Nasrallah declared intentions of Israel and the United States to change the mandate of peacekeepers in South Lebanon and give them the right to searches and searches of private property under the pretext of search and seizure of weapons. The Shiite leader said about the inadmissibility of such actions, as this will be a direct violation of private property and the rights of citizens.
At the end of may was a conflict between the residents of the district Marjayun and peacekeepers due to the fact that the Finnish soldiers from the UNIFIL tried to conduct patrols in the border area without coordination with the Lebanese army. Local residents blocked the road and pelted the convoy of blue helmets with stones. No one in the incident was not injured.
The first 4 thousand blue helmets have been dispatched to southern Lebanon in 1978. The United Nations interim force UNIFIL (UNIFIL) is continuing in southern Lebanon in accordance with resolution 1701 of the UN security Council, which put an end to the war with Israel in 2006. Together with the Lebanese army peacekeepers control the area near Lebanon's border with Israel, also called the blue line. The composition of UNIFIL comprises about 11 thousand military personnel and more than 800 civilian experts from 41 countries.