Israel Matzav

Hezbullah demands seized weapons from Lebanese Army

Al-Reuters, which published this story, ought to consider it for their "Oddly Enough" feature.

Hezbullah has demanded the return of a truck full of weapons that was seized by the Lebanese army on Thursday, saying that the weapons were for their 'fighters' terrorists in southern Lebanon. And you thought that under UN Security Council Resolution 1701, the Lebanese army was supposed to be seizing weapons....

Earlier Thursday, Information Minister Ghazi Aridi said customs authorities had stopped a truck carrying weapons on the outskirts of Beirut and had taken it to the city's port for investigation.

Hezbollah said the authorities had confiscated a "truck carrying munitions to the resistance." The truck had been carrying the load from the Bekaa Valley in the east to the south, Hezbollah said in a statement.

"The government program clearly confirms the right of the resistance ... to work to liberate the rest of the occupied land, the prisoners and to confront the Zionist threats," the statement said, demanding the return of the truck and munitions.

...

Under the resolution, the Lebanese government is obligated to curb the flow of weapons to Hezbollah from abroad. A UN envoy and anti-Syrian Lebanese leaders have accused Syria of smuggling weapons to its allies in Lebanon in recent months.

Now, there's another oddity in this story. Please look at the map. The weapons were supposedly coming from the eastern Bekaa Valley which is the area around Baalbeck, towards the Syrian border. It's going to southern Lebanon - look at the map and think of Shaba Farms and Naqoura. Why on earth would they have sent this stuff anywhere near Beirut (unless the highways in the east of the country are so bad that it's faster to go west in order to go south).

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 12:53 AM