Lebanon has expressed opposition to the draft resolution renewing the mandate of the UN peacekeeping force in South Lebanon (UNIFIL) as currently formulated and reviewed by the UN Security Council.
Caretaker Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib said on Friday that the draft resolution did not emphasize the importance of coordinating UNIFIL’s operations with the Lebanese government, represented by the Lebanese Army, as stipulated in UNIFIL’s working agreement, referred to as SOFA.
Bou Habib underscored Lebanon’s clear refusal to grant legitimacy to shifting UNIFIL’s mandate from Chapter VI, which is based on UN Security Council Resolution 1701 of 2006 calling for peaceful conflict resolution, to Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter, which calls for imposing resolution by force.
UNIFIL’s mandate is renewed annually upon the request of the Lebanese government.
