Lebanon PM stresses need to avert 'vacuum' if UN force leaves

Lebanon's Prime Minister Nawaf Salam stressed at the UN Friday on the need to "avert the vacuum" that would be caused by withdrawing the UN peacekeeping mission deployed in the country's south without a viable replacement.

Under US pressure, the UN Security Council decided last month to fix December as the end of the mandate of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), which has been deployed since 1978.

"What we wish to stress here and today is the need to avert the vacuum that UNIFIL's withdrawal could create, were it to take place without agreement on a new international force to replace it," Salam said in a speech to the UN General Assembly.

UNIFIL currently has 7,500 peacekeepers from around 50 countries.

They are deployed in southern Lebanon along the Blue Line, which stretches for 120 kilometers (75 miles), marking a de facto border between Lebanon and Israel.

Salam also stressed the need for Israel to fully withdraw from Lebanese territory and for Beirut to move forward in extending state authority over its entire territory, ensuring "weapons (are) held by the state alone."

Hezbollah, backed by Tehran, has so far opposed disarmament.

Lebanon and Israel concluded a framework agreement in June under US auspices, providing for the gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces and the disarmament of Hezbollah, but its implementation has stalled.

It is intended to end a conflict that has lasted for decades.

The UN force reported extensive Israeli military ground activities in its area of operation and repeated violations of Lebanese airspace and territorial waters, between Monday and Thursday.

The peacekeepers recorded 195 airspace violations involving Israeli drones, fighter aircrafts and helicopters, according to UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric.

(AFP)