UNIFIL denies reports of weapons smuggling in South

Source: Daily Star, 05-5-2007
SOUTH LEBANON: Milos Strugar, spokesperson for the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), denied on Friday reports that Hizbullah is smuggling weapons into the South. "The German naval forces are doing their job as good as it can be [done] and have not detected any arms smuggling into the South," Strugar said on the sidelines of a meeting between UNIFIL Commander Major General Claudio Graziano and mayors and mukhtars in the southern port city of Tyre.
Strugar said that the number of international peacekeepers would remain 13,000.
"There is no need to increase the number of soldiers so far," Strugar said, stressing that UNIFIL and the Lebanese Army are in "permanent" contact to prevent any "Israeli" violation of the Blue Line.
"The situation along the Blue Line can be described as calm ... no `Israeli` violations have been detected so far, whether in the border region of Saasaa or in (occupied) Shibaa Farms," he said.
Strugar also said that a tripartite meeting of representatives from UNIFIL and the Lebanese and "Israeli" armies held earlier this week was "very successful" at resolving "all pending issues between Lebanon and `Israel`."
The meeting was held at the UN headquarters in Ras Naqoura to discuss the UN Security Council Resolution 1701.
Separately, the National News Agency (NNA) reported that "Israeli" forces set up surveillance cameras on Friday on two transmission poles in "Israel`s" Manara settlement, overlooking the Houla-Mais al-Jabal road in Marjayoun.
"Installing surveillance cameras is aimed at watching the movements of people and vehicles," said the NNA report.
Mayor of Mais al-Jabal, Naim Rizk, urged UNIFIL to prevent "the enemy" from installing such cameras.
"This is called spying ... it is a flagrant `Israeli` violation because it sets bounds to people`s movements," the mayor was quoted by NNA as saying.