The blog Nziv.net on Wednesday cited informed Syrian sources who claim that the Lebanese army has appointed Brigadier General Ali Awarka as director of military intelligence in the Baalbek district, the largest administrative district in the country. Awarka is known for his close ties with Hezbollah.
The same Syrian sources insist that Awarka is in charge of security for the weapons convoys going from Syria to the Hezbollah warehouses in Lebanon. They say he is responsible for transferring the equipment in Lebanese military vehicles to Beirut and southern Lebanon.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri’s press office issued a statement saying Hariri has “assured the Head of Mission and Force Commander of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) General Stefano Del Col that Lebanon is committed to the full implementation of Resolution 1701 and to respecting the Blue Line on its southern border.”
Hariri insisted the Lebanese army cooperates with the UNIFIL forces and will conduct patrols to deal with any flaw in the implementation of resolution 1701 from the Lebanese side. That would mean aiding UNIFIL in detecting and dismantling Hezbollah tunnels along the border, which so far the Lebanese have refused to do. Instead, Hariri called on UNIFIL to face the “daily violations by Israel of Lebanese airspace and territorial waters.”
So, no change. Instead, Hariri said the international community must “curb this escalation in the interest in the respect for the Blue Line and the full implementation of Resolution 1701.” Meaning, all of a sudden Israel is so alarmed by those Hezbollah tunnels penetrating its territory? What will they do next, bomb Hezbollah weapons convoys from Syria?
Hariri deserves a mazal tov: after almost eight months of being Prime Minister-designate, without a fully functioning government, a new coalition Cabinet is expected to be formed by Xmas. The Lebanese constitution determines that only a Sunni Muslim can serve as prime minister, and its taken all this time to pick Sunni candidates for ministerial office that Hezbollah, a Shiite terror organization and Lebanese coalition party, would accept. Now they’ve come up with six pro-Hezbollah Sunni MPs both Hezbollah and Hariri can agree on.