It is highly unlikely that Hizbullah has more weapons now in southern Lebanon than they did at the time of their 2006 war with Israel, the head of UN peacekeeping said on Wednesday.
Israel says Hizbullah continues to increase its weapons stockpiles south of the Litani River where the 13,000-strong UNIFIL peacekeeping mission is charged with keeping out armed fighters and illicit weapons.
"I think it would be very difficult for Hizbullah to put additional weapons in the area," Alain Le Roy, the
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French head of the UN Department of Peacekeeping, told reporters.
"I don't speak of north of the Litani River, because there UNIFIL has no mandate," he said. "But south of the Litani River, we consider it very unlikely."
But Le Roy added that he could not be certain: "We cannot give a 100 percent guarantee."
Western diplomats have privately voiced concerns that the Shi'ite militant group has succeeded in replenishing its weapons caches and that UNIFIL has not been entirely effective in preventing weapons smuggling due to its limited mandate.
Le Roy spoke of the limitations on UNIFIL's mandate, under which peacekeepers are there to assist the Lebanese army. For example, he said, UNIFIL lacks the authority to search houses for weapons unless they have "clear evidence" of hidden arms.
UNIFIL has been in Lebanon since 1978 but was beefed up after the 2006 war. Security Council Resolution 1701, approved after the war ended, gave the force tougher rules of engagement to police the area south of the Litani River.
However, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's March report on UNIFIL to the Security Council made clear that southern Lebanon remained problematic.
"The rocket attacks and the findings during the reporting period (late 2008 and early 2009) demonstrate that there are still weapons and hostile armed elements ready to use them within (UNIFIL's) area of operations," Ban said.
Privately, several peacekeeping officials have acknowledged that UNIFIL's limited mandate probably prevented it from uncovering more weapons caches. However, they also said they believed the Israelis
were exaggerating the extent to which Hizbullah was stockpiling arms south of the Litani River. UNIFIL's mandate is up for renewal in August.
Speaking about U.N. Peacekeeping in general, Le Roy welcomed US President Barack Obama's request for nearly $840 million for UN peacekeeping operations. He said it will be "extremely significant" if the funds are approved by the US Congress.
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