Lebanese Army dismantles Israeli pipes-(in the presence of French and Spanish peacekeepers)

daily star ^ | hursday, October 19, 2006 | By Rym Ghazal

[Flavius]

BEIRUT: The Lebanese Army on Wednesday dismantled drainage pipes installed by the Israeli Army near Kfar Kila to divert rainwater into Lebanon, as UNIFIL said that Israel had not violated Lebanese territory in the process. Troops from the Lebanese Army, in the presence of French and Spanish peacekeepers, removed the pipes and filled in ditches dug on Tuesday by Israeli troops after crossing the UN Blue Line in Adaisseh, near the Israeli-Lebanese border.

The Lebanese Army Command released a statement on Wednesday outlining the operation. "A tall sand wall was built as a shield in response to the [Israeli] violation in order to prevent the diversion of rainwater into Lebanon and causing damages to the properties of Leb-anese citizens," it said.

As Lebanese troops worked in the area, the Israeli Army reinforced its presence on the other side of the fence, leading to a "state of alert" between the two armies, the National News Agency said. The situation was later defused.

However, UNIFIL spokesperson Alexander Ivanko insisted that "there was no state of alert."

"UNIFIL has it own definitions of what it considers an alert, and so far there hasn't been any state of alert," he said.

Ivanko added that UNIFIL "does not consider what Israel did on Tuesday as a violation."

"All the engineering work was on their side of the Blue Line," he added, explaining that UNIFIL troops had used GPS devices to verify their claim.

Meanwhile, an Italian admiral with the UNIFIL forces in the South, Claudio Confessore, said on Wednesday that his forces were "upset over the repeated violations by Israel" of Lebanese territory.

Confessore called on both sides to respect UN Security Council Resolution 1701 in order for peace and stability to prevail. "All the violations are being reported to the UNIFIL headquarters in Naqoura and the Lebanese Army," he said. http://www.dailystar.com.lb

In Italy, meanwhile, the upper house of Parliament approved the country's peacekeeping commitment to Lebanon late Tuesday - the last parliamentary hurdle before the president signs the decree.

Italy is contributing the largest contingent - 2,500 troops - to the United Nations' expanded peacekeeping force in Southern Lebanon, assembled after an August 14 cessation of hostilities came into effect.

The mission was approved by a large margin, 272-15, with two abstentions.

Meanwhile, Israeli air violations continued on Wednesday with overflights along Lebanon's shores and over the Southern areas of Al-Bayada, Rmeish, Aalma al-Shaab and Naqoura.

The Jewish state repeated Wednesday that it will continue to monitor Lebanese airspace for as long as Hizbullah continues to receive arms from Syria.

"We have evidence that Hizbullah has received more

weapons from Syria," Israel's ambassador to Spain, Victor Harel, said in a breakfast meeting with political analysts and journalists in Madrid.

"Syria continues to work against the Lebanese government of [Prime Minister Fouad] Siniora to weaken him or even replace him," the envoy added.

However, Harel said that ultimately the greatest threat to Israel was from Iran, and therefore, "Israel cannot allow an existential threat to the security of Israel in the region."

In other developments, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan told London-based Al-Hayat newspaper in an interview published on Wednesday that his country's peacekeeping forces in Southern Lebanon would not be used to disarm Hizbullah.

"We are there to add stability and support Lebanon and we, along with all the different players, will abide by ... 1701," he said. - With agencies

[kinoxi]

. "A tall sand wall was built as a shield in response to the [Israeli] violation

That'll teach em.