Israel said on Wednesday it would lift an eight-week-old air and sea blockade of Lebanon on Thursday, handing over control to international forces.
It said Prime Minister Ehud Olmert had been told by United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan that ”international forces are ready to take over control posts over the sea ports and airports of Lebanon”.
”Thus it was agreed that tomorrow [Thursday] at 6pm [local time], Israel will leave the control positions over the ports in conjunction with the entry of the international forces,” a statement from Olmert’s office said.
Israel imposed the embargo, bombing Beirut airport and denying ships access to Lebanese ports, one day after Hezbollah guerrillas captured two of its soldiers on July 12 and sparked a war that was halted by a UN truce nearly five weeks later.
Annan had said earlier at a joint news conference with Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara he was hopeful the blockade would be lifted within 36 to 48 hours.
Lebanon had vowed to bust the blockade if it was not lifted by Friday.
Annan, speaking after talks on Turkey’s contribution to a bigger UN peacekeeping force to shore up the truce in Lebanon, has been trying to broker a deal to end the blockade.
In a sign the end of the embargo was imminent, British Airways said it was resuming direct flights to Beirut after the British government had given assurances it would be safe to do so.
Lebanon’s Middle East Airlines and Royal Jordanian began flying regularly into the capital last month, but have complied with Israel’s insistence all such flights go via Amman. Qatar Airways resumed direct flights to Beirut on Monday.
Prisoner swap
Lebanon’s Foreign Minister Fawzi Salloukh said on Wednesday the two Israeli soldiers held by the Lebanese Hezbollah guerrilla group would not be released unless there were talks with Israel about the exchange of Lebanese prisoners.
Israel says the main violation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701 that ushered in the August 14 truce is Hezbollah’s failure to free the two soldiers.
Annan said he would send an envoy to the region to work on the issue before the end of the week.
Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora has said if the blockade went on for another 20 days, the economic losses would equal the nearly $1-billion in aid promised by international donors to help Lebanon get back to its feet after the war.
After the lifting of the embargo, Lebanon is set to ask the UN to help patrol its coast.
French, Italian and Greek naval ships would deploy offshore. Germany would later take over the sea patrols.
UN peacekeeping force commander Major General Alain Pellegrini told France’s Europe 1 radio the truce in Lebanon remained shaky.
”It remains fragile as far as there is an Israeli presence in Lebanon because every incident, misunderstanding or provocation can escalate very quickly,” he said.
Two Lebanese soldiers were killed and a third was wounded in the south as they tried to defuse an Israeli landmine.
Pellegrini’s spokesperson, Alexander Ivanko, said the UN peacekeeping force had protested to Israel on Tuesday over truce violations.
Turkey’s parliament on Tuesday approved providing non-combat troops for the UN force, due to be beefed up from its pre-war 2 000 to 15 000.
Erdogan declined to say how many would go, but officials have said the number was unlikely to exceed 1 000.
Israeli troops withdrew from nine more border posts they had occupied in the war, Lebanese security sources said.
Annan has said Israel should complete its pullout once 5 000 UN troops are on the ground. The force now numbers 3 100. A French battalion with tanks and artillery is due next week and another Italian contingent is due to be deployed. — Reuters