U.N. force not finding Hizbullah`s guns

Source: usatoday, 15-3-2007
IBL AS-SAQI, Lebanon -About 13,000 U.N. troops have been tasked with creating a weapons-free buffer zone north of the "Israeli" border. They say they have found little in the area besides abandoned bunkers and spent missile launchers.
"The vast majority of bunkers, positions and facilities that we`ve come across are those which are redundant. There is no sign of maintenance," says Liam McDowall, a spokesman for the U.N. force in Lebanon. "And the vast majority of explosive devices, improvised explosive devices, shells, missiles, again, are inoperable."
Meanwhile, Hizbullah has openly bragged of stockpiling 33,000 missiles and regrouping its fighters in case of another war with "Israel".
"We in the resistance have weapons, and we openly declare that we have weapons, that we are completing our preparedness for a greater and more dangerous stage," Hassan Nasrallah, Hizbullah`s leader, said last month.
Hizbullah's political wing holds 14 seats in the Lebanese parliament. The U.S.-backed Lebanese government has disavowed any responsibility for Hizbullah but has been unable or unwilling to disarm it.
War broke out in July when Hizbullah captured two "Israeli" soldiers. Under a cease-fire agreement reached in August after 34 days of fighting, U.N. soldiers were given the job of ensuring that no armed militias operate in a 12-mile area that runs from the "Israeli" border north to the Litani River.
"I can ensure that from the Litani to the border, there is no illegal armament. I am sure," says Maj. Pedro Diaz of Spain`s 1,100-man contingent in the U.N. force.
However, the U.N. force has no jurisdiction north of the Litani. Missiles fired from steep mountainsides there could reach northern "Israel". Local leaders say Hizbullah has recently increased its presence in the area.
"They used this land during the war, and nothing has changed. In fact, there are more fighters here now than there were," says Hafez Kirwan, the leader of As-Srairi village, a Druze community.
Patrick Clawson, deputy director of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, says Hizbullah may be fortifying its positions north of the Litani: "Like a good professional military, Hizbullah is preparing both for a possible new offensive and to defend (its) positions in depth if "Israel" attacks or hits back."
The U.N. force may lack the enforcement power it needs to stop Hizbullah from stockpiling arms, said Amal Saad-Ghorayeb, a visiting fellow at the Carnegie Middle East Center in Beirut. Even within the buffer zone, the troops are not authorized to conduct invasive searches of homes for weapons.
"The U.N. resolution specifies that (the force`s) task is to make life difficult for Hizbullah, yes, but not to disarm it," she said. "Disarming it entails actively snooping for arms caches - in other words, having the right to search homes, which it has not been given."
Hizbullah leaders say they are not actively seeking conflict with "Israel" but will respond if attacked.
"It`s not a secret that the resistance is still preparing for any war that comes," said Nawar Sahali, a Hizbullah member of Lebanon`s parliament.
"If there is a day when "Israel" attacks and the (U.N.) won`t stop them and the Lebanese army will not stop them, the job of the resistance is to stop any aggression," Sahali said. "But we hope that there will be no war."