Lebanese seek US envoy's expulsion

Lebanese seek US envoy's expulsion
AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE

BEIRUT, FEB 19: Four days of anti-American protests in Lebanon reflect a worrying deterioration in the West Asia peace process, which is already at a standstill as Israel, Lebanon and Syria vie for bargaining points, diplomats said. More than 15,000 people marched through the streets of Beirut on Friday in answer to a call by the main workers' federation, political parties and a Left-wing student group to protest at the perceived pro-Israeli bias of the United States, displayed by both the US administration and the CNN television news channel.

Thousands of students demonstrated outside the US embassy on Thursday, demanding the expulsion of ambassador David Satterfield, a demand rejected Friday by Prime Minister Salim Hoss. "This verbal escalation is worrying, because any challenge to the role of the United States as arbitrator can only mean a setback to the peace process which it sponsors," said a western diplomat.In another illustration of the way the tone is hardening, Lebanese President Emile Lahoud warned Friday that any decision by Israel to go back on 1996 understandings between the two sides aimed at protecting civilians would be a double-edged sword. "Israel's rejection of these arrangements would not be the end of the world for us, and Israel is making a mistake if it believes it can put pressure on us like that to change the terms of the understandings which are in the interests of civilians on both sides," Lahoud said in a statement.

"If Israel stops providing immunity for our civilians, it will have done the same for its own citizens, its infrastructure and its interests. We think our strikes will be even more painful for them in such a case," he said.However, he added that Lebanon wanted to stick to the truce agreement, which was sponsored by France and the United States. "He could not have spoken like that without consulting Syria," another diplomat said. Syria is the main powerbroker in Lebanon, where it has 35,000 troops deployed."Events are panning out badly.

The (Israeli-Syrian) peace negotiations have been frozen since January 10, since Syria has not received a firm pledge from Israel to withdraw from the whole of the Golan Heights it occupied in 1967, while Israel is giving priority to security arrangements," the diplomat said. "As a result, there is every reason to fear that all the ingredients are there for a confrontation in which Lebanon will once again be the location and the victim," he added.

The 1996 truce deal is overseen by an international panel made up of France, Israel, Lebanon, Syria and the United States. However, Israel boycotted an emergency meeting of the committee called February 11 to discuss the raids it carried out against Lebanon in the early hours of February 8 which destroyed three power sub-stations and injured 18 civilians. Israel has accused Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas of violating the agreements by firing on its troops from civilian areas and is still refusing to attend meetings of the committee, which has no power to enforce its rulings.