BEIRUT: The European Union’s foreign policy chief said yesterday he had told Israel to stop its jets flying over Lebanon, echoing an earlier call by France.
"I’m coming from Israel to tell you that I talked with the prime minister (Ehud Olmert), I talked with the minister of defence (Amir Peretz) and made very, very clear ... that this has to stop," Javier Solana told reporters at a news conference with Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora.
"We want to have (UN) Resolution 1701 applied by everybody."
French Defence Minister Michele Alliot-Marie said last week that Israel’s violations of Lebanese airspace were "extremely dangerous" and the flights should stop immediately.
Israel later said its combat planes would continue to fly over Lebanon.
Israeli jets have routinely flown over Lebanon since a 34-day war between Israel and Hezbollah guerrillas ended on August 14 in a UN-brokered ceasefire. An international peacekeeping force, including a French contingent, has been expanded in southern Lebanon.
Lebanon and the UN say the Israeli flights violate the ceasefire resolution. Israel says the missions are necessary to help ensure that arms are not smuggled into southern Lebanon from Syria to rearm Hezbollah.
Unifil spokesman Daljeet Bagga said there were "sometimes between nine and 15 flights a day, which is quite a lot actually". They occur "sometimes late at night".
"It is very discomforting for the Lebanese; it could easily lead to some incident," Bagga said.
Asked about Israel’s claims that arms were being smuggled to Hezbollah, he replied: "We have no idea really whether weapons are coming in or not - we are not really sure."
Solana meanwhile pledged his support for Siniora, two days before Lebanese politicians are due to hold talks for up to 15 days to discuss demands for a national unity government and a new election law.
"The manner in which Prime Minister Siniora handled this very complicated time is an example of dignity and an example of patriotism," Solana said.
"You have to reconstruct your country and you will need not only the help and support of your people but also the moral support and the physical support, and the economic support of the international community.
"The European Union will be with you, you can be sure about that."
Siniora defended the performance of his government during the war with Israel, saying it had maintained national unity in the face of widespread devastation.
"The principle of a national unity government is something that you work for," he said, denying suggestions that he had caved in by agreeing to participate in the consultations.
"We don’t really want to make a jump into the unknown, we have to be ready to make a jump into the known," he argued.
"This government is by itself a government that represents most of the political groups in the country" and it "has already demonstrated a high level of leadership in tackling most abuses.
"This is the government that managed to preserve the unity of the Lebanese in the face of major attacks."
The unity talks are expected to begin tomorrow, but Nabih Berri, speaker of the Lebanese parliament and head of the Shia group Amal, said they might not start until Wednesday.
Berri called on Wednesday for fresh talks across the sectarian divide to form a national unity government and drag the country out of a crippling political stalemate. - Agencies
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