Lebanon: UN envoy and Hizbollah official meet to discuss recent rocket fire

The United Nations Special Coordinator today met with a senior Hizbollah official to discuss the recent incident in which a rocket was fired from a southern Lebanese village into northern Israel, prompting Israel to return fire.

Michael Williams had discussions with Ammar Moussawi, the head of Hizbollah’s international relations department, UN spokesperson Michele Montas told journalists.

Mr. Williams said after the meeting that the UN remains very concerned by the rocket fire and is warning that the recent events could easily destabilize the situation in southern Lebanon, where a UN peacekeeping force (known as UNIFIL) is based, and increase the threat of potential conflict erupting in the region.

Israel and Hizbollah fought a month-long war in mid-2006, and in a report issued earlier this week Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said the disbanding of Lebanese militias – especially Hizbollah – was of “vital importance” to Lebanon’s future democracy and sovereignty.

Mr. Ban called on the leaders of the militant group to transform Hizbollah into a purely political Lebanese organization.

Lebanon held parliamentary elections on 7 June but has been deadlocked since then over the formation of a national unity government, and in recent weeks Mr. Williams has held a series of meetings with top political figures in the country to urge them to reach an agreement.

Yesterday he met with Samir Geagea, the leader of the Lebanese Forces political bloc, to discuss the possible formation of a new government and ways to overcome the deadlock.