Two US officials demanded that Israeli overflights of Lebanon be halted, saying that such flights undermine the standing of Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora. According to Haaretz newspaper, the two American diplomats, David Welch and Elliott Abrams, held short meetings Thursday with Israel's Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni.
Meanwhile, Lebanon's top Shiite cleric has urged on the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) to provide the Lebanese army with weapons to halt the flights over Lebanese airspace, the Daily Star reported on Friday. "Israel is still violating our skies without taking UNIFIL's role into consideration," Sayyed Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah, one of the world's top Shiite Muslim clerics, was quoted as saying.
"UNIFIL should provide the army with surface-to-air missiles so it will be able to prevent any Israeli violation of Lebanon's airspace," he said.
