JERUSALEM - With Israel's prime minister standing by his side, UN
Secretary-General
Kofi Annan renewed his demands Wednesday that Israel
immediately lift its sea and air blockade of Lebanon, but failed to win Israel's
consent.
Also Wednesday, Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora said Wednesday that his
government would pay US$33,000 per house to compensate residents whose homes
were destroyed by Israeli attacks.
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UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, left, is
escorted with UN French Force Commander Alain Pellegrini, right, upon his
arrival in Naqura,the southern headquarters of United Nations Interim
Force in Lebanon, or UNIFIL about 5 kilometers (3 miles) from the Israeli
border, Tuesday Aug. 29, 2006. Annan on Monday demanded that Hezbollah
release two captured Israeli soldiers to the international Red Cross,
pressing both sides to fulfill their commitments to solidify the
two-week-old cease-fire in Lebanon.
[AP]
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Saniora said 130,000 housing units had been destroyed or damaged in more than
a month of Israeli airstrikes and ground fighting with Hezbollah guerrillas,
mostly in south Lebanon. He did not give a breakdown of the completely destroyed
houses.
Meanwhile, Annan also said he hoped Israel would withdraw all its forces from
south Lebanon once the number of UN forces in Lebanon has doubled to 5,000, a
number he said could be reached in "coming days and weeks."
However, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert suggested Israel was not prepared
to do that until a UN-brokered cease-fire deal that ended 34 days of fighting
between Israel and Hezbollah guerrillas was implemented fully.
Under the deal, some 15,000 Lebanese soldiers and up to 15,000 international
troops are to be deployed and enforce an arms embargo on Hezbollah. Currently,
some 2,500 UN observers are monitoring the Israel-Lebanon border, but have a
very limited mandate.
On Tuesday, Annan called the blockade a "humiliation" and an infringement on
Lebanese sovereignty. But Israel has said it would not lift its blockade unless
international forces, along with Lebanese troops, are deployed on the
Israel-Lebanon border, as well as on Lebanon's frontier with
Syria to
prevent the flow of weapons to Hezbollah.
Syria has said it would consider the presence of international troops on its
border a hostile act and Lebanon has said it would deploy its own forces there,
but not let international troops patrol in the area. Annan has backed Lebanon in
the dispute and called on "all the neighbors" to cooperate in implementing the
cease-fire deal.
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