From Associated Press, THE JERUSALEM POST, Mar. 4, 2008:
Israel says Hizbullah is rearming and has an arsenal including 10,000 long-range rockets and 20,000 short-range rockets in southern Lebanon, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told the Security Council in a report....
...Ban also expressed concern at "the threats of open war against Israel" by Hizbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah.....
...The secretary-general's report focused on implementation of the UN cease-fire resolution that ended the 34-day war between Israel and Hizbullah in August 2006. The resolution reiterates a call for the disarming of all militias and bans arms transfers to them. "Reports of Hizbullah rearming are a cause of great concern, posing serious challenges to the sovereignty, stability and independence of Lebanon," Ban said.
He told the council he continues to believe that the disarmament of Hizbullah and other militias must be part of a Lebanese-led political process that would fully restore the government's authority throughout the country. He expressed regret "that the persistent deterioration of the political climate and the prolonged deadlock" over the election of a new Lebanese president have made it impossible to deal with the disarmament issue.
In his last report to the council in late October, Ban alleged that Hizbullah had rearmed with new long-range rockets capable of hitting Tel Aviv and tripled its arsenal of C-802 land-to-sea missiles since the 2006 war. He also drew attention to alleged breaches of the arms embargo and the transfer of sophisticated weapons from Iran and Syria - both strong backers of Hizbullah - across the Lebanon-Syria border....
..."All member states in the region, in particular the Syrian Arab Republic and the Islamic Republic of Iran, have a key responsibility in this regard," the secretary-general said. "Such violations risk further destabilizing Lebanon and the whole region." ...
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