BEIRUT: UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon Michael Williams on Friday held separate meetings with Speaker Nabih Berri and Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri to express his unease over the delay in the formation of a new government. Lebanon hasn’t had a government since the country’s June 7 parliamentary elections, in which the Hizbullah-led March 8 opposition was defeated by the March 14 coalition, headed by Hariri’s Future Movement. Hariri has struggled to negotiate a national unity cabinet amid disagreement over the distribution of portfolios and choice of ministers. 

The government vacuum was a source of great “concern” for the UN, Williams said, noting that several important social and economic issues had been on hold as a result. 

“It is difficult to understand why an agreement has not been reached on this so far,” he told reporters after meeting Berri. “We are now at a point where the government should be formed as soon as possible to focus on tackling the many challenges facing the country.” 

Williams added that the UN shared Lebanon’s frustration over stalled talks to negotiate the formation of the new cabinet. “It remains absolutely critical for Lebanon to have a government, not least to continue with the implementation of Resolution 1701,” he said, referring to the Security Council resolution that ended a 34-day war with Israel in August 2006. 

Williams discussed UN chief Ban Ki-moon’s report on resolution 1701, which was released earlier this week, with both Berri and Hariri. Ban’s 11th report on the implementation of  Resolution 1701 warned that the continuing presence of wea­pons outside of the Lebanese state’s control posed “a challenge to the ability of the state to exercise its full sovereignty and control over its territory.” 

The UN official said that while the situation in south Le­banon was mostly calm, he was alarmed by the flurry of recent activity along the border with Israel, namely the launching of a rocket into an Israeli border town last Tuesday, an earlier rocket attack on September 11 and the explosion of a suspected arms cache in the southern town of Khirbet Silim in July. 

“We are glad that overall, stability continues to prevail along the Blue Line and in south Le­banon, though we are concerned at the frequency of incidents in the recent period,” he added after meeting Hariri. He noted that both Israel and Lebanon had committed violations, pointing to Israel’s almost daily violations of Lebanese airspace. “I use this opportunity to call again for Israel to stop all such violations,” he said. 

“The secretary general has urged in his recent report that we focus on making progress to­ward a permanent ceasefire and the full implementation of resolution 1701,” Williams added. “This would ensure long-term stability and security for the re­gion and above all for Lebanon.” 

Williams will travel to the UN headquarters in New York this Tuesday to brief the Security Council on Resolution 1701, he said. – The Daily Star