United Nation, April 09: Lebanon complained that Israel has, once again, planted deep into its territory surveillance and photographic systems in the form of an artificial rock, and urged the Security Council to compel Israel to give up its espionage practices.
In a note to the UN Secretary-General and the President of the Security Council circulated Friday, the Lebanese Foreign Ministry said this is the second time this happened, adding that the device was found in the Sham’s area, close to Tyre, which is within the area of operations of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon.
The first time this happened was in December 2010.
This time, the note said, the system was detected as a result of information obtained from “resistance sources” by the Lebanese Army Intelligence Directorate, and was subsequently uncovered, dismantled and removed by Directorate technical units.
The system, it explained, comprised five parts: a photographic system, a system for picture transmission, a system for receiving control signals, a means of generating sufficient energy for the system for a long period and a cooling system.
The device, it added, was operated remotely by Israeli surveillance aircraft that received photographs directly from the photographic system in the device.
“It should be pointed out that this is the second occasion on which an Israeli espionage apparatus has been found deep within Lebanese territory: two systems were found on 15 December 2010 in the Baruk and Sannin areas, the noted said.
It warned that “the planting by Israel of that system deep within Lebanese territory constitutes a flagrant violation of Lebanese sovereignty, international laws and norms, and Security Council resolution 1701 (2006), and is prejudicial to international peace and security.
“It also constitutes an act of aggression against Lebanese territory and confirms yet again Israel’s contempt for United Nations resolutions and for UNIFIL, to the mandate of which it represents a blatant challenge.
“Lebanon demands that the Security Council assume its responsibility to maintain international peace and security and bring pressure to bear on Israel to abandon its aggressive and provocative policy towards Lebanon.
—Agencies