Troop pull-out 'a mistake’

Press, 11 April 1978, Page 8

Troop pull-out 'a mistake’

NZPA-Reuter Tel Aviv Norwegian troops with the United Nations peace-keeping forces in southern Lebanon have returned to their posts on the Litani River, after a withdrawal on Friday which the United Nations commander termed a mistake.

The Norwegian pull-back drew sharp criticism in the Israeli press. The Norwegians withdrew after a gun battle with Palestinians and were reported to have said they would pull out of the United Nations force if their presence meant they would have to fight the Palestinians.

In an interview with the Israel Army Radio, Major General Emmanuel Erskine, of Ghana, commander of the United Nations Interim Forces in Lebanon, said he had himself gone to the area to settle the matter. Asked about the Norwegian withdrawal, General Erskine said: “We all know it was a mistake, and that is why I had to go to the area myself.” He added they would have gone back any way. and the area was now quiet. The incident occurred at the southern Lebanese village of Kaoukaba, on the eastern sector of the Lebannon front, near the Khardali Bridge over the Litani River. Major Haddad, commander of the Israeli-backed Christian forces in south Lebannon, cited the Norwegian withdrawal as strengthening his fears about an early Israeli pull-out from south Lebanon.

He was quoted as saying: “We cleared Kaoukaba and

its surrounding hills from all terrorists when we handed it over to the United Nations and now they are back.” He said the Norwegian unit had retreated from Kaoukaba to a road junction south of the village when Palestinians threatened to shell them. When the Norwegians returned to the village itself, the Palestinians remained on the surrounding hills, he said. The Israeli Army has officially confirmed its use of United States-m*de cluster bombs during the invasion of Lebanon. The use of these weapons, which scatter shrapnel grenades across a wide area, has been condemned in the United States as a contravention of the conditions under which they were supplied to Israel. The Army spokesman said: “In a number of cases, artillery and Katyusha (rocket) fire on Israeli settlements in the north continued without interruption. “Against these artillery units and nearby field positions the Israel defence forces used cluster bombs.”

In‘Washington, the UnitedStates Defence Secretary (Mr' Harold Brown) has said that. the United States has told Israel it must expedite its; withdrawal from southern" Lebanon.

Mr Brown would not say outright whether Israel was withdrawing too slowlv from the territory it invaded last month and denied that the United States was putting pressure on the Jewish State. Israel plans to start a twostage withdrawal today.