Hezbollah criticizes UN Secy-Gen over Lebanese remarks

By: Karim Tellawi

BEIRUT, Lebanon: The Lebanese Hezbollah group denounced UN Secretary General Kofi Annan's comments that Lebanon and Syria have not met demands of last month's Security Council resolution that calls for the respect of Lebanese sovereignty.

The resolution demands the withdrawal of all foreign forces in Lebanon in a clear reference to Syria, which remains the main power broker in the country with more than 10,000 troops on the ground in its smaller neighbor.

Talking on the Arabic al-Arabiya television channel, Hezbollah's number two, Sheikh Naim Qassem said UN Resolution 1559 of September 2 is “biased”.

“It constitutes a sword of Damocles on Lebanon and Syria and is aimed at putting pressure on Syria,” he said.

Annan reported on Friday Syria has not complied with the UN Security Council demand to pull its troops out of Lebanon and said it cannot give a timetable for doing so.

“The government of Syria has informed me that it cannot provide me with numbers and timetables for any future withdrawal,” Annan said in the report released to the press.

“The requirements on the various parties set out in resolution 1559 have not been met,” he added.

Earlier Sunday, Lebanese Foreign Minister Jean Obeid accused Annan of making a biased assessment of international respect for Beirut's sovereignty that highlighted Syrian breaches while ignoring Israel's.

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