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Archived News Articles: U.S. Foreign Policy and Lebanon
From Middle East Newsline: 01/07/2004 14:25:04
PENTAGON PRESSES FOR U.S. OPERATION IN LEBANON
WASHINGTON [MENL] -- The U.S. Defense Department is said to be mulling a proposal to expand special operations forces and send them to destroy insurgency strongholds along the Lebanese-Syrian border. U.S. defense sources said the proposal is being examined by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. They said the plan calls for a multi-pronged attack on insurgency strongholds in such countries as Lebanon and Somalia. ...
At Jane's Intelligence Digest: 22 January 2004
USA mulls Hizbullah strikes
According to JID's intelligence sources, US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld is considering plans to expand the global war on terrorism with multi-pronged attacks against suspected militant bases in countries such as Lebanon and Somalia. In a week in which Israel launched airstrikes against Hizbullah positions, our regional correspondent reports from Beirut. ... Deployment of US forces in the area (Lebanon) would almost certainly involve a confrontation with Syrian troops. That may well prove to be the objective ...
Also: http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?
pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1074745158639&p=1008596981749
From AFP at Yahoo: Sun, Jun 20, 2004 (20/06/2004)
Israeli aircraft bomb Hezbollah position in south Lebanon
TYRE, Lebanon (AFP) Israeli aircraft attacked a position of the fundamentalist movement Hezbollah at Al-Tireh, in the Bent Jbail region near the Israeli frontier in south Lebanon. ... Earlier Sunday, Israeli warplanes violated Lebanese airspace, causing supersonic booms over a southern region and triggering retaliatory anti-aircraft fire, Lebanese police said. ... Last week, UN representative Staffan de Mistura condemned Israel for its repeated violations of Lebanese airspace and warned that continued overflights could stoke tension in the region.
From Aljazeera: Tuesday 20 July 2004, 23:06 Makka Time, 20:06 GMT
Israeli army warns of strike against Syria
As the conflict on the Israel-Lebanon border escalates, the Israeli military has issued a blunt warning that it may launch a direct attack against Syria. The chief of the northern areas of the Israeli army, General Bini Gants has accused Syria and Iran of arming the Lebanese Hizb Allah movement, which he described as "terrorist". Gants told Aljazeera television on Tuesday that the continuation of Hizb Allah's attacks would push Israel to launch "a painful and qualitative military operation" against Syria. ...
From Xinhua at ShanghaiDaily: September 3, 2004
UN adopts resolution demanding Syria withdraw forces from Lebanon
Despite strong objections from Syria and Lebanon, the United Nations Security Council on Thursday narrowly voted in favor of a US-proposed resolution demanding respect of Lebanon's political independence and Syrian forces' withdrawal from Lebanon. Nine of the 15 council members voted in favor and six abstained. None of the five permanent members -- China, Russia, France, Britain and the United States -- exercised veto power. The six abstentions were China, Pakistan, Algeria, Brazil, Russia and the Philippines. The resolution, co-sponsored by France, Britain and Germany, was approved despite strong appeals from Lebanon and Syria for the council not to proceed with it. The vote was requested by the US and France in time for Friday' s vote by the Lebanese parliament on a constitutional change, which would allow President Emile Lahoud to stay in power for an extra three years after his term expires on Nov. 24. ...
From Reuters: Fri Sep 3, 2004 02:50 PM ET
Lebanon Defies UN by Extending President's Term By Mariam Karouny
BEIRUT (Reuters) - Lebanon's parliament voted overwhelmingly Friday to extend the term of Syrian-backed President Emile Lahoud, despite a U.N. Security Council resolution warning Damascus against interfering in Lebanon. ...
From AFP at SpaceWar: Sep 21, 2004
Under pressure, Syria starts pulling troops from Lebanon
BEIRUT (AFP) - Syria began pulling some of its troops out of Lebanon Tuesday in the face of heavy US-led international pressure for Bashar al-Assad's regime to end its political and military domination of its tiny neighbour. But Lebanon said a full withdrawal of Syrian forces would only take place after a comprehensive Middle East peace deal and an end to Israeli occupation of Arab territories. ... A high-ranking Lebanese army official told AFP the redeployment concerned about 3,000 troops, most of whom would return to Syria, leaving about 15,000 soldiers on Lebanese soil. ...
From Reuters: Wed Oct 20, 2004 09:32 AM ET
Lebanon PM Resigns, Says Will Not Head New Govt.
BEIRUT (Reuters) - Lebanon's Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri resigned Wednesday after the pro-Syrian president's term was extended under what lawmakers called pressure from Damascus. Hariri -- a billionaire businessman synonymous with efforts to rebuild from Lebanon's 1975-1990 civil war and stave off fiscal collapse in recent years -- said he would not head a new government. ... Consultations on forming a new government are expected to begin Thursday, sources in the presidential palace said. Former prime minister Omar Karami has emerged as early favorite, political sources said. Syria and Lebanon have shrugged off the U.S. and French-backed resolution calling for the withdrawal of foreign forces and disarmament of militias, a reference to Lebanon's Syrian-backed Hizbollah guerrillas. ...
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