France wants UN council reaction on Israel/Lebanon
Source: Reuters
By Michelle Nichols UNITED NATIONS, Feb 8 (Reuters) - France wants the U.N. Security Council to discuss and react to a border clash between Israel and Lebanon, France's U.N. ambassador said on Thursday. Israeli and Lebanese soldiers exchanged fire on Wednesday after Lebanese troops shot in the air as an Israeli patrol crossed a security fence near the border to search for explosives planted by Hezbollah guerrillas. No one was hurt. It was the first such clash since Lebanon deployed regular forces along the frontier as part of a U.N.-brokered cease-fire that ended a 34-day war last year between Israel and Hezbollah guerrillas. The border has been largely quiet since then. "We think that the council should have an exchange of views on this issue, which is an important one," France's U.N. Ambassador Jean-Marc de la Sabliere told reporters. "I am just going to ask for a briefing from the secretariat." "We think that the council should react because it is a matter of concern," he said. "It is important that both parties exercise restraint and it's important that the council express again its full support for the full implementation of resolution 1701." The resolution adopted on Aug. 11 called for a truce and a peacekeeping force to help the Lebanese army supervise the pull-out of Israeli troops from the southern Lebanon after the war between Israel and Hezbollah guerrillas. It authorized up to 13,000 well-armed troops to augment a 2,000-member U.N. force already in Lebanon, known as UNIFIL. "We have to see what the best way for the council to express its position, maybe a press statement, we will see, we will discuss it with members of the council," Sabliere said. Other diplomats said the briefing by the head of U.N. peacekeeping, Jean-Marie Guehenno, and a possible statement may be delayed until Friday, depending on the council discussions. Israel ordered searches in the area where Wednesday's shooting occurred after discovering four explosive devices on the border on Monday. Israeli officials accused Hezbollah of planting the bombs recently, but the group said it placed them before the July-August war.
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