US: Absence of Lebanese forces in South worrisome

By Janine Zacharia, Jerusalem Post, 16.6.00

WASHINGTON (June 16) - An absence of Lebanese forces in south Lebanon, not the death of Syrian president Hafez Assad, could lead to border friction, Assistant Secretary for Near Eastern Affairs Edward Walker told a congressional committee this week.

"We do not envision that the death of Syrian president Assad will adversely affect the implementation of [UN Security Council Resolution] 425 or the calm that now exists in the South, at least in the short term," Walker told the Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee on Near Eastern and South Asian affairs.

But he stressed US fears that it is very dangerous to have "Hizbullah cheek by jowl against the border with the Israelis." Walker said the US has assurances Lebanon will soon "fill the vacuum" left behind by Israeli forces and that the UN will formally confirm the withdrawal by the end of this week.

Walker urged Syria to respect a US call for the withdrawal of some 30,000 Syrian troops occupying parts of Lebanon.

At the same hearing, a former SLA commander urged the US to provide assistance to thousands of SLA soldiers and their families who, fearing reprisals by Hizbullah, took refuge in Israel after the May 24 pullout.

Col. Charbel Barakat asked Congress to grant the exiled population an emergency aid package and called on the US to "use its influence with the various governments in the region to ensure a safe return of the refugees from south Lebanon to their homes and to ensure a protected safe haven under UN auspices."