Lebanese Foreign Minister Mahmoud Hammoud has not ruled out “an imminent Israeli aggression” on his country.
In a statement to Albawaba.com in Damascus Sunday, where the minister is taking part in the Arab foreign ministers meeting, Hammoud said that despite the frequent Israeli threats to Lebanon, the country is determined to liberate its land occupied by Israel.
The minister was referring to the disputed Shabaa farms, which Lebanon demands as part of its territory, while Israel insists that the issue will be settled within the Israeli-Syrian peace talks on the claim that the land was captured from Syria.
“We will liberate this land and will use all means to regain it,” Hammoud vowed.
Asked if Israel would choose the time span between the outgoing government and the incoming one as the timing for its attack, as was the case with Qana massacre (1996), the minister said they should not rely on speculations, but rather be ready for any hostility.
He also refused to link demands for a pullback of the Syrian troops from Lebanon with the possibility for an Israeli attack, insisting that these are two separate matters.
Commenting on the resignation of the Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, Hammoud said that “we look at Israel as one entity that does not change with the change of its premier and its Zionists policies are fixed. So Barak and any other PM are two sides of the same coin.
“What concerns us is peace, the just and comprehensive peace in accordance with the related international resolutions,” the Lebanese top diplomat said.
Hammoud said that meeting of the Arab foreign ministers, designed to follow up with the October 21-22 Arab Summit resolutions, will discuss, in addition to the Palestinian Intifada, the mines planted by Israel in Lebanon.
“Israel has left 130,000 mines planted in our land, that have led to fatalities and injuries,” he said.
© 2000 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
