Israel refuses to lift Lebanon blockade

Israel rejected a call by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan yesterday to lift its air and sea blockade of Lebanon, saying it would end the seven-week-old siege only when all aspects of a ceasefire were in place.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert also told Mr Annan he would not withdraw Israeli troops fully from southern Lebanon until the full implementation of the truce, which took effect on August 14 and ended 34 days of conflict with Hizbollah guerrillas.

Olmert's statements amounted to a rejection of the two main requests Mr Annan had brought to Jerusalem, but Mr Annan later played down the differences of opinion.

"There isn't that much of a difference between Prime Minister Olmert and myself," Mr Annan told a news conference in the West Bank city of Ramallah when asked about his apparent failure to strengthen the ceasefire.

Mr Annan, who visited Lebanon on Monday and Tuesday, later left for Amman, where he will meet King Abdullah of Jordan today. Kofi Annan's Middle East tour also includes Syria and Iran.

During an hour of talks with Mr Olmert, Kofi Annan said he pressed for a lifting of the blockade, imposed after the start of the war against Hizbollah on July 12, on economic grounds. Mr Olmert said any relaxation of pressure on Lebanon's ports and airspace depended on the full implementation of UN resolution 1701, which governs the ceasefire with Hizbollah.

"The (resolution) is a fixed buffet and everything will be implemented, including the lifting of the blockade, as part of the entire implementation of the different articles," he said.

Mr Olmert was equally firm when Mr Annan suggested Israel should withdraw its troops from Lebanon within "days or weeks" once up to 5,000 UN-backed peacekeepers are on the ground.

"Israel will pull out of Lebanon once the resolution is implemented," Mr Olmert said, indicating a longer timeline.

The UN force in south Lebanon, UNIFIL, said Israeli troops withdrew from near three villages in the far southeast of Lebanon yesterday. UNIFIL will patrol the area to make sure the Israelis are not present in the area, a statement added.

Mr Olmert reiterated his call to deploy the UN force not just in southern Lebanon but also along the border with Syria. Israel wants the force to stop fresh arms reaching Hizbollah.

The UN resolution says all states should prevent the smuggling of arms into Lebanon and it gives the Lebanese government the final say on whether UN troops should help with that task. Lebanon says its army is up to the job.