BEIRUT: Speaker Nabih Berri hailed Thursday efforts by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to demine swathes of land in south Lebanon infested with cluster bombs remaining from Israel’s war on Lebanon in 2006.
Berri was speaking to UAE Ambassador Rahma al-Zoabi and deputy head of the UAE demining project Abdullah Khalifeh al-Ghafli, who visited him at his Ain al-Tineh residence.
Berri said the UAE not only financed the project but also offered assistance in equipment and army personnel.
Earlier in October, Berri visited the UAE to resolve the issue of expulsions from the Gulf emirate of Lebanese thought to have links to Hizbullah.
On Wednesday, a ceremony was held at the Phoenicia Hotel in Beirut to mark the end of the UAE mine-clearing program in south of Lebanon.
The program, which helped demine over 8 million square meters of land in the last three years, was part of UAE Program to Support and Rebuild Lebanon and was sponsored by UAE President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nhayan with the support of UAE vice president and prime minister, ruler of Dubai Sheikh Mohammad bin Rashid al-Maktoum.
The closing ceremony was attended Wednesday by caretaker Premier Fouad Siniora, of Lebanese Armed Forces commander General Jean Kahwaji, Zoabi and an array of political, military and social figures.
The ceremony included an exhibition of the different types of bombs encountered in the south of Lebanon.
With the help of the UN Mine Action Coordination Center (UNMACC), the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) and the UAE armed forces, the program successfully demined more than 8,066,790 square-meters of land, as Ghafli explained.
About 137 mine fields were cleared in the area between the Litani River and the region of Jezzine. About 7,729 mines and 156 booby traps were also cleared in that area while 5,819 cluster bombs and 462 unexploded munitions were cleared south of the Litani River.
In the last 72 hours of Israel’s war on Lebanon in 2006, Israeli planes dropped over 4 million cluster bombs in south Lebanon. According to the UN, about 40 percent of the bombs failed to detonate on impact. Some 273 civilians and 57 deminers have since been killed or wounded by cluster bombs. – The Daily Star
Listen to the Article 
Printable Version 
Send to a friend 