Washington Post - BEIRUT (AP) - The head of U.N. peacekeepers in Lebanon is pushing back after U.S. and Israeli criticism of the mission, saying Wednesday that his force has no evidence that weapons are being illegally transferred and stockpiled in the Hezbollah-dominated south. Maj. Gen. Michael Beary defended the 10,500-strong force as the U.S. and France publicly disagreed about whether its mandate, which expires on Aug. 31, should be beefed up to tackle Hezbollah. U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley said in a statement coinciding with Wednesday's closed U.N. Security Council consultations on the force, known as UNIFIL, that Hezbollah openly boasts about its illegal weapons stockpile and publicly threatens the destruction of neighboring Israel.
↧
