Kaag Meets Salam, Reiterates Ban's Call to Avoid Escalation in South

United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon Sigrid Kaag held talks on Friday with Prime Minister Tammam Salam on the latest developments in Lebanon, most notably Israel's strike against a Syria's Quneitra region.

She said: “I reiterated the statement of U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon urging all parties to refrain from any actions that could directly or indirectly lead to an escalation of the current situation.”

She therefore stressed the importance of U.N. Security Council resolution 1701 “and the tremendous role and collaboration that U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon provides in the country.”

Kaag also voiced the U.N.'s readiness to continue to assist the government of Lebanon and its partners in addressing all the wider range of needs be they on the political and security fronts and ensuring progress towards implementation of resolution 1701.

This support also extends to helping Lebanon meet the needs of Syrian refugees, she added.

“We concluded on the need for continued, very strong and intense cooperation,” Kaag remarked, while emphasizing the need to look at all the opportunities “to stabilize, to build and to enhance Lebanon's resilience at a time of continued challenges and possible crisis.”

Six Hizbullah members, including prominent member Jihad Mughniyeh, and an Iranian general were killed during an Israeli airstrike on Syria's Quneitra region on Sunday.

The government condemned the attack, saying that “confronting Israel lies in adhering to international resolutions.”

Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah is scheduled to make a speech on January 30 to address the development.

M.T.