Israel provided the U.N. peacekeepers on Tuesday maps of where it dropped cluster bombs during the summer 2006 war in Lebanon, the UNIFIL force said. "UNIFIL received from the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) today technical strike data and related maps on the cluster munitions fired by the IDF over Lebanon during the 2006 conflict," UNIFIL said in a statement, cited by Reuters. "Technical experts from UNIFIL are currently examining and assessing the data received," it added.
The statement added that UNIFIL will hand over the maps on to the Lebanese army.
According to an Israeli army spokesman, maps showing cluster bomb sites had been given to UNIFIL last year.
On his part, Lebanon's Prime Minister Fouad Saniora said the maps and locations should have been handed over immediately after the adoption of Security Council resolution 1701 at the end of the war. In a statement published by his press office, Saniora thanked UNIFIL commander Maj. Gen. Claudio Graziano and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for informing Israel about Lebanese demands to receive the maps.
Government sources told the Beirut-based An Nahar newspaper that the timing of the Israeli step comes "as part of messages that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is trying to send prior to his expected visit to Washington."
