Annan Visits Devastation In Lebanon
Komfie Manalo - All Headline News Foreign Correspondent Beirut, Lebanon (AHN) - United Nations Secretary General on Tuesday viewed the devastation in southern Lebanon caused by the 34-day fighting between the Israeli army and the Hezbollah militants. Annan toured the southern part of the country after meeting with Lebanese officials to discuss the deployment of 15,000 international peacekeeping force. He also visited the 2,000 U.N. troops currently deployed in the region at the southern port of Naqoura before flying over the scenes of the destruction. While touring the war-ravaged nation, Annan said he would talk to the Israeli side and asked them to lift its air and sea blockade of Lebanon, which the Israeli Defense Force implemented in the early days of the conflict to prevent alleged movement of arms from Syria and Iran into Hezbollah strongholds. But the U.N. chief has also called on the Hezbollah to release the two Israeli soldiers it captured in a cross-border rain on July 12 which triggered the war. He reviewed the honor guard of U.N. troops on the law of the white-walled U.N. compound in Naqoura, an area still occupied by Israeli troops. From air, he saw some of the areas in Lebanon heavily damaged by relentless bombardment from Israeli war planes and artillery fires. In Markaba, Annan acknowledged the many unresolved issues that were becoming "serious irritants on both sides" which could provoke a |
