NEWSLebanon denies Israeli allegation on weapons violation of UN resolution
BEIRUT, March 6 (Xinhua) -- Lebanese Defense Minister Elias Murr has refuted an Israeli allegation on Beirut's weapons violation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701, the daily An Nahar reported here Tuesday.
Murr, who is on a visit to the United States, made the denial in a meeting with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in New York on Monday, the daily quoted informed sources as saying.
According to the sources, Murr told Ban that there are no arms other than the Lebanese army's weapons in southern Lebanon as Israel accuses Lebanon of violating the UN resolution. Israel has claimed it has satellite images showing Lebanese violation of the UN resolution, An Nahar reported.
But the sources quoted Murr as stressing to Ban that "the (Lebanese) military is deployed in all sensitive regions in the south and there are no arms other than the Lebanese army's weapons there."
Murr, meanwhile, stressed Lebanon's commitment to the cease-fire resolution that brought an end to the Israeli-Hezbollah conflict last summer in southern Lebanon.
The Lebanese military will confiscate all weapons that do not belong to the armed forces, he vowed.
The UN Resolution 1701 calls on the Lebanese government "to secure its borders and other entry points to prevent the entry in Lebanon without its consent of arms or related materiel."
It was reported that Murr is also expected to hold talks with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in Washington on Tuesday, aimed at shoring up support for the Lebanese army.