UN border assessment team wraps up two-week mission to Lebanon

The independent United Nations team dispatched by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to assess the monitoring of the Lebanese border with Syria has wrapped up its two-week mission to Lebanon.

This was the second mission for the Lebanon Independent Border Assessment Team (LIBAT), which was set up in April 2007 in response to a request from the Security Council.

The four-member team, comprised of experts in border security, police, customs and military issues, met with a number of Lebanese officials and conducted several field visits along the country’s northern and eastern borders.

The aim of the mission was to examine progress made in enhancing border management and security, as called for in Security Council resolution 1701 which ended the 2006 conflict between Israel and the Lebanese group Hizbollah.

That resolution also called for renewed respect for the Blue Line separating Israeli and Lebanese forces, the disarming of militias and an end to arms smuggling, among other measures.

The team will submit a report on its findings and recommendations to Mr. Ban shortly.