February 2, 2010 - The Daily Star - Lebanon Israel returns abducted Lebanese.

Tuesday, February 02, 2010

Israel returns abducted Lebanese shepherd after 'severe beating'
Joint UNIFIL-LAF probe determines arrest occurred north of Blue Line

By Patrick Galey
Daily Star staff

BEIRUT: The Lebanese shepherd who was arrested by Israeli soldiers as he tended his flock was returned to UN peacekeepers on Monday, after hours of detention south of the Blue Line. “At 2:00 am, citizen Rabih Mohammad Zahra was recovered after he was abducted by an Israeli patrol last night,” said a Lebanese Army communique.
“Zahra was badly battered during his detention and the marks were clearly visible in his face and neck,” the statement added. Photos of Zahra on Monday showed no obvious signs of injury.
He was handed over to members of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) and then on to the Lebanese Army (LAF).
Zahra, a 17-year-old shepherd, had been tending his flock of sheep Sunday in the Bastara Farm area near the Shebaa Farms region when he was arrested by Israeli soldiers.
A joint LAF-UNIFIL team inspected the area from which Zahra was taken and announced he was arrested in Lebanese territory, the National News Agency (NNA) reported.
Zahra claimed Israeli soldiers had beaten him and asked him about information on Hizbullah activities, it added.
Israeli media said Zahra was found to be carrying a weapon when detained.
Lebanon filed a complaint to the UN of the incident, which a Foreign Ministry statement called a “clear violation of Resolution 1701 and Lebanese territorial sovereignty, as well as an assault on a Lebanese citizen.”
UNIFIL has launched an inquiry into the incident, said the force’s spokesperson Monday.
“The UNIFIL force commander was immediately in contact with the parties. Our immediate concern was to secure the release of the civilian. Early this morning the [Israeli Army] handed over the civilian to UNIFIL at the Ras Naqoura crossing. UNIFIL in turn handed him over to the Lebanese authorities,” said spokesperson Neeraj Singh.
“In the meantime, UNIFIL has launched an investigation to establish the circumstances of the incident, including the exact location where the man was apprehended. The investigation is ongoing.”
Development and Liberation Bloc MP Qassem Hashem criticized UNIFIL over the incident Monday, saying the peacekeeping force did not act sufficiently to prevent Zahra’s arrest.
Hashem told An-Manar television that the incident equated to an attack on a Lebanese national, adding that UNIFIL was not doing enough to prevent Israeli incursions into Lebanon.
“Neither UNIFIL nor other forces can deter Israel. It is as if [UNIFIL] only counts the number of Israeli breaches,” he was quoted as saying.
The Shebaa Farms, comprising 25 square kilometers, is located at the junction of Lebanon, Syria and Israel and was occupied by Israel in 1967.
The mountainous area is rich in precious water supplies and Israel has previously detained Lebanese citizens in the region.
Sunday’s arrest prompted a flurry of activity either side of the Blue Line on Monday, as Israel performed mechanized patrols close to fences spanning the border and UNIFIL and LAF troops staged several patrols from the Lebanese side, the NNA reported.
United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon Michael Williams, following a meeting with Foreign Minister Ali Shami in Beirut, said he was “delighted” that Zahra had been returned to Lebanon.
“We have seen reports that a Lebanese citizen was apprehended yesterday by the Israeli [military] … but we are pleased to say that early this morning this Lebanese citizen was released and has returned to Lebanon,” Williams said.
“We are delighted that this Lebanese citizen has now returned home safely to Lebanon,” he added.
The Blue Line – the UN-demarcated boundary of Israeli military withdrawal from Lebanon – is not clearly marked in areas close to the Israel-Lebanese border. Several incidents in recent years have seen individuals unwittingly cross from one country to the other, mostly with livestock in search of water.
Zahra’s arrest represents a violation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701 – drafted to end Israel’s 2006 July-August war on Lebanon.
It stipulates that Lebanese sovereign boundaries be respected and not breached, something Israel routinely flouts with near-daily violations of Lebanese airspace above parts of south Lebanon.
Williams also spoke of his recent meetings with Israeli officials, who conveyed to him their efforts in ceasing these Blue Line violations.
“We are hoping that progress can be made in order to move from a cessation of hostilities to a more enduring ceasefire,” Williams said.