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Israel Lifts Naval Blockade Of Lebanon
Israel Lifts Naval Blockade Of Lebanon
BEIRUT - Israel, lifted its naval blockade of Lebanon on Friday after European warships began patrolling to keep out weapons shipments for Hezbollah guerrillas, the head of the U.N. peacekeeping force in Lebanon said.
Maj. Gen. Alain Pellegrini, the force's French commander, said he was informed by Israeli officials, and by the Italian commander leading the naval task force, that the blockade had ended after nearly two months.
The international task force began operating off the Lebanese coast just after noon Friday, officials said.
"The force is now operational and I understand that the (Israeli) naval blockade is lifted," Pellegrini said in a statement faxed to The Associated Press.
Israeli government spokeswoman Miri Eisin said she didn't have immediate confirmation that the final order had been given to Israeli forces to end the blockade off Lebanon's ports. But she said earlier Friday that the blockade would end within hours.
The lifting of the blockade brings Israel's campaign against Hezbollah guerrillas closer to an end, and allows desperately needed reconstruction projects to proceed freely.
Israel now must withdraw its last troops, to be replaced by up to 15,000 Lebanese soldiers backed by an equal number of international forces in southern Lebanon under an Aug. 14 truce.
Israeli officials said that could happen within two weeks.
Israel sealed off Lebanon by air and sea at the start of its war against Hezbollah to keep Syria and Iran from resupplying it with arms. Israel, yielding to intense international pressure, ended its air blockade of Lebanon on Thursday, but said it would maintain the naval blockade until international peacekeeping vessels arrived to monitor the seas.
U.N. chief Koffi Annan , who led the international campaign to lift the blockades, has also been pressing Israel to withdraw all its soldiers from Lebanon once 5,000 U.N. peacekeepers deploy there by mid-September.
At a meeting Thursday, Israeli security officials said the target was to have the remaining thousands of troops out by the Jewish New Year, which begins the evening of Sept. 22, security officials said.
About 3,250 U.N. troops are now in place. On Thursday, the Spanish parliament voted to contribute 1,100 soldiers to the peacekeeping mission, and the first troops were to set off on Friday.
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