Asarta: UNIFIL Deployment Cannot Last Forever, Permanent Ceasefire Needed

Outgoing United Nations Interim Force Commander Major General Alberto Asarta stated on Saturday that the security situation in southern Lebanon had improved greatly five years after the release of U.N. Security Council resolution 1701.

“More than five years after adoption of the resolution, conditions on the ground have significantly improved, the cessation of hostilities and respect for the Blue Line have been generally upheld by the parties (Lebanon and Israel),” Asarta said during a farewell transfer of power ceremony in the South.

He added however that UNIFIL’s presence in the South cannot last forever, saying the need for a permanent ceasefire between all concerned sides.

“UNIFIL has played… and will continue to play an important role in preventing a resumption of major hostilities and mitigating any incidents from escalating… However, the full implementation of the resolution is faced with a number of strategic challenges” Asarta stressed.

The UNIFIL command was handed over to Italian national Major General Paolo Serra.

Asarta pointed out that the international force had achieved great progress in the fields that are considered crucial for UNIFIL’s success.

Addressing the attacks that had targeted the force over the past few months, he remarked that they are a sign of the presence of armed groups that are prepared to target UNIFIL.

“Their sacrifice has not been in vain, but shall encourage us, to continue upholding the highest principles of the organization to which they dedicated their lives.”

He urged the Lebanese government to do its utmost and the international community continues to support the Lebanese army.

United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon appointed Italian Maj. Gen. Paolo Serra as the commander of UNIFIL to succeed Spain’s Maj. Gen. Alberto Asarta.

Major-General Serra, in his first speech, said he is fully committed to working with the Lebanese Armed Forces, promising to further develop that strategic partnership to achieve the common goal of peace and stability in southern Lebanon.

He stressed that “the Mission’s mandate remains unchanged with the Transfer of Authority,” noting that the success of the Mission “lies in the continued commitment of all the parties to the cessation of hostilities and full respect of resolution 1701.”

Serra is currently Chief of Logistics and Land Transformation of the Italian Army, and held important command appointments up to the level of Commander of Italy’s “Julia” Alpine Brigade, as well as Commander of the Regional Command West of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) deployed in Afghanistan.

In 2009, he was appointed Chief of Staff of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Rapid Deployable Corps-Italy. From 2004 to 2007, he served as Army Attaché at the Embassy of Italy in Washington, D.C.

The hand-over ceremony at UNIFIL Headquarters in Naqoura was attended among others by the Lebanese Defense Minister Fayez Ghosn representing President Michel Suleiman and Prime Minister Najib Miqati of Lebanon, MP Ali Bazzi representing Speaker Nabih Berri, Lebanese Armed Forces Commander General Jean Qahwagi, Director-General of the General Security Major-General Abbas Ibrahim, Italian Minister of Defense Giampaolo Di Paola, Italian Deputy Foreign Minister Staffan de Mistura, Spanish and Italian Chiefs of Defense Staff Admiral Fernando García Sánchez and General Biagio Abrate, and senior UN officials.

Ghosn, on behalf of the president, awarded Maj. Gen. Asarta ‘The National Order of the Cedar – Commander Grade’.

Asarta assumed his position on January 28, 2010, succeeding Major General Claudio Graziano of Italy.

UNIFIL currently has about 12,000 military and naval personnel from 35 countries deployed in southern Lebanon and with the Maritime Task Force off the coast. The civilian component of UNIFIL numbers more than 300 international and about 700 national staff members.