Lebanon files complaint with UN on Israeli spying
Beirut says surveillance posts on border are a ‘flagrant violation of the international law’ and constitute ‘aggression’
Marissa Newman is The Times of Israel political correspondent.
Lebanon filed an official complaint with the United Nations Wednesday over what it said was Israeli spying near the border, the Lebanese National News Agency reported.
Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour lodged the complaint with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and also submitted a CD which he said contained coordinates of bugging devices planted in southern Lebanon.
Mansour referred to the illegitimate surveillance as a “flagrant violation of the international law and a continuous aggression against the Lebanese territory, the people and the security and military forces.”
He also addressed the charges in separate letters to foreign ministers of the Security Council’s 15 non-permanent states; EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Catherine Ashton; Secretary-General of the Arab League Nabil ElArabi; the secretary general of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation; and the head of the Non-Aligned Movement, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.
“Israel’s continuous aggression constitutes a violation of international law and relevant international resolutions, particularly Resolution 1701,” he said.
Lebanese officials announced their decision to appeal to the UN on the subject in parliament session in November, after the Telecommunications Ministry released a report on the construction of surveillance posts on the Israel-Lebanon border.
“The issue is very serious and it concerns our security, economy and daily life and we will take preemptive procedures and political measures, the simplest of which will be to file a complaint to the Security Council,” MP Hassan Fadlallah told The Daily Star following that parliament session.
According to the allegations presented by Fadlallah, the Israeli surveillance is primarily focused on Lebanese security and banking.
“The situation is so dangerous to the point that we didn’t bring our cellphones with us to the session,” Fadlallah said.
Nabih Berri, the head of the Lebanese Parliament, said at the time that devices were being found “from al-Naqoura passing by Khiyam all the way to Shebaa.”
