Lebanese deployment welcomed by Israel

Press, 19 February 1983, Page 8

Lebanese deployment welcomed by Israel

NZPA-Reuter Netanya Israel yesterday welcomed the extended deployment of the Lebanese Army around Beirut at the 16th round of talks on the withdrawal of foreign troops from Lebanon. But Lebanon reiterated its opposition to Israeli demands for bases in the south aimed at preventing the return of Palestinian guerrillas to the border area.

Negotiators from Israel, Lebanon, and the United States met in a seaside hotel for a half-hour plenary session before breaking up into sub-committees.

Avi Pazner, the spokesman for the Israeli delegation, said that the chief Israeli

negotiator, David Kimche, applauded the deployment this week of regular Lebanese Army troops in east Beirut in place of Falangist militia. “We support the return of Lebanese sovereignty in all parts of Lebanon,” said Mr Pazner. He played down an incident in which an Israeli Army patrol broke through a Lebanese Army check-point outside Beirut. Israeli military action was not aimed against Lebanese authorities, but against Palestinian infiltrators, he said. Israel has emphasised that the wider deployment of

Israeli-backed Lebanese 'Christian forces under Major Saad Haddad in south Lebanon was not aimed at exerting pressure on talks. “The Haddad forces have an important role to play in Israeli security,” he said. A Lebanese spokesman said that the chief negotiator, Antoine Fattal, had restated Beirut's opposition to the presence of Israeli early warning stations in south Lebanon and the removal of United Nations and multinational peace-keeping forces from Lebanon. Israel has demanded it be allowed to establish three bases in the south as part of a 45km security zone.