UN official warns of the extremely dangerous situation in Lebanon

UN official warns of the extremely dangerous situation in Lebanon

2010-10-29 04:10:58 GMT+7 (ICT)

UNITED NATIONS (BNO NEWS) -- The United Nations Special Envoy Terje Roed-Larsen on Thursday warned member states on the extremely dangerous situation in Lebanon due to the presence of heavily-armored militias.

Roed-Larsen is the UN Special Envoy for the Implementation of Resolution 1559, which was adopted by the Council in 2004 amid concern about high tensions within Lebanon. He added that the recent escalation of rhetoric and confrontation have cooperated to raise tensions among parties.

"We know that in Lebanon you have militias which are very heavily armed and increasingly so. This creates a hyper-dangerous situation. This is why all parties in Lebanon, in the region and beyond must now shoulder their responsibilities to stop irresponsible and reckless rhetoric," Roed-Larsen said.

The UN Special Envoy called for free and fair elections and to end foreign interference. Furthermore, he remarked that all militias must be disbanded to bring stability across the region. He called the current situation in Lebanon as "the most critical issue of the international peace and security today."

"Critical to this is also the disbanding and disarming of all militias. Militias holding arms in Lebanon today is an intimidation in itself, particularly when it is paired with reckless and irresponsible rhetoric:"

On the other hand, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon voiced concern about the recent escalations of political tensions in Lebanon and urged all parties to focus on strengthening the country's sovereignty and security. Ban added that issues such as the presence of armed groups must be resolved.

"The Middle East is at an extremely critical juncture. And in the middle of those crosswinds, there is a tent standing, and that tent is critically upheld by two poles. One is the Palestinian one and the other one is the Lebanese. If one of those poles cracks, the whole tent will go down," Roed-Larsen said.

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