Annan: Weapons Flowing to Lebanese Militias From Syria
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.

UNITED NATIONS – Adding to the pressure on Damascus, Secretary-General Annan yesterday reported that the flow of weapons to armed groups in Lebanon across the Syrian border has increased recently. The observation in a semiannual report about the implementation of a U.N. Security Council Resolution 1559 included a demand for all militias in Lebanon to lay down their arms.
The report, prepared by Mr. Annan’s special envoy for the implementation of 1559,Terje Roed-Larsen, was delivered as the council deliberated over a proposed resolution designed to increase diplomatic pressure on Syria over its role in the assassination of Lebanese politician Rafik Hariri, demanding cooperation with a U.N. investigation.
Russia and China said they would oppose parts of the resolution. When pressed, however, both indicated a reluctance to use their veto power to block the American-backed resolution, which could pass as soon as Monday.
The Annan report handed over to council members yesterday was prepared by Mr. Roed-Larsen, but bore Mr. Annan’s name. It referred specifically to armed factions based in camps set up by the United Nations in 1949 for refugees of the Arab war against Israel. Those armed groups are currently backed by Syria and most are headquartered in Damascus. “A variety of recent reports has suggested that there has been an increasing influx of weaponry and personnel from Syria to some of these groups,” the report said.
The report also criticizes the Shiite group Hezbollah, which is backed by Syria and Iran, and remains armed even as it attempts to participate in Lebanese politics. “Operating as a political party and as a militia is contradictory,” the report says. “The carrying of arms outside the official armed forces is impossible to reconcile with the participation in power and in government in a democracy.”
Separately, some powerful members of the Security Council publicly expressed strong reservations yesterday on the resolution proposal offered by America, France, and Britain Tuesday night regarding the Hariri murder. The resolution calls for travel restrictions and the freezing of assets of “individuals” implicated in the assassination. It also demands that Syria cooperate with the U.N. investigation headed by the German Detlev Mehlis, noting that “further measures” might be taken to assure compliance.
The proposed measures are intended for use against individuals, not the Syrian regime, American and French diplomats stressed yesterday. But Syria is run by an individual. Asked yesterday if the resolution demands that President al-Assad be interviewed by Mr. Mehlis, American ambassador John Bolton said, “It absolutely includes the president of Syria.”
“No person is above the law, and the president’s had time to talk to the media, to all of you ladies and gentlemen, and if he has time to do that, he has time to talk to Commissioner Mehlis,” the ambassador told reporters. Mr. Bolton added that he hoped foreign ministers of the countries represented on the 15-member council will travel to Turtle Bay to vote on the resolution Monday.
Syria’s ambassador, Fayssal Mekdad, insisted his country has cooperated with Mr. Mehlis, but he said Mr. Assad would probably not be available for interviews with investigators. “When it comes to heads of state,” he said, they “should be treated with respect.”
Russia and China emerged as the strongest dissenters on the proposed resolution yesterday. “I think that so far the current draft will be difficult for China, and I believe for other council members,” the Chinese ambassador, Wang Guangya, told The New York Sun. “Russia will do everything necessary to stop attempts to introduce sanctions against Syria,” a Russian foreign ministry spokesman, Mikhail Kalmynin, said in a statement issued in Moscow.
Asked whether Russia would veto the resolution, Ambassador Andrei Denisov told the Sun, “Please don’t use that word in this case.” Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has indicated an “initial intention” to come to the council vote, he said. Several other council foreign ministers said they intend to come as well. “How do you see ministers coming here to apply veto right?” Mr. Denisov said. “It makes no sense.”
Mr. Guangya added, “I’m sure that the co-sponsors will get our views and try to modify [the resolution]. Otherwise, we are headed for a split council again.”
Mr. Bolton indicated America would not compromise the principals in the proposed resolution just to reach a unanimous council vote. “We are not looking for consensus at any price,” he told the Sun. “We want the strongest possible resolution with the broadest possible support. That’s, after all, what multilateral diplomacy is all about.”