Fighting is Result of Occupation

By Ambassador Abdallah Bouhabib

In our meetings with the Bush administration, Congress, and religious leaders, Lebanese government representatives are urging Americans to become involved in the cause of peace in Lebanon. Our first aim in these contacts and activities is to achieve an immediate and permanent cease-fire. The Lebanese are exhausted with the violence and horror of a war that has only exacerbated their differences.

Secondly we strongly believe that the differences among the Lebanese, and the ongoing hostilities are direct consequences of occupation. The consistent Syrian attempt to achieve hegemony over Lebanon is preventing Lebanese efforts toward national reconciliation.

Let there be no mistake: Syrian forces are present in Lebanon solely in pursuit of their own interests and agenda. The fact that Syria has shifted alliances over the years among so many Lebanese communities is unequivocal evidence that Syria—far from helping to achieve reform, or keeping peace among communities—intends simply to exacerbate differences Lebanese: an occupied country is a divided country.

We strongly believe that the differences among the Lebanese. . . are direct consequences of occupation. The Syrian attempt to achieve hegemony over Lebanon is preventing Lebanese efforts toward national conciliation.

What is dear after 14 years of war is that no single community in Lebanon is able to gain the upper hand or eliminate another. Similarly, no occupying force can impose its hegemony. Such is the reality of our robust pluralism. We must preserve it.

Thirdly, we are calling on the US to lend its support directly—and through the United Nations Security Council—to the efforts of the Arab League Committee of Six. This ongoing initiative of six foreign ministers, under the chairmanship of Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad, the Kuwaiti foreign minister, seeks a permanent solution to the Lebanese predicament through the withdrawal of all non-Lebanese forces, and reconciliation among the Lebanese.

Furthermore, we encourage the involvement of the UN Security Council in the pursuit of peace in coordination with the efforts of the Arab League Committee. The participation of the Security Council is crucial if we are to bring about the withdrawal of the Israeli forces from southern Lebanon; it was UN resolutions 425 and 426 of June 1978 (and subsequently, resolutions 508 and 509 of 1982) which called for the establishment of the UNIFIL force, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from southern Lebanon, and the restoration of peace and security in the area. We must no longer allow southern Lebanon to remain open to extremist agitation and Israeli retaliation and aggression.

We also seek the support of the Security Council in reaffirming another key resolution, number 520 of June 1982, which demanded "the strict respect of the sovereignty, territorial integrity, unity, and political independence of Lebanon under the unique and exclusive authority of the Lebanese government, exercised through the Lebanese army in the whole of Lebanon." In 1978 a war of 100 days between the Syrian army and the Lebanese Forces was brought to an end through the weight of the principles embodied in this resolution.

Finally, during this time of trial, we urge concerned American friends of Lebanon to redouble your efforts to get involved in the struggle for peace and justice in Lebanon. Please express your support of Lebanon by registering your comments and views with the media and by enlisting your spiritual leaders and your elected representatives and officials in this vital quest for our national integrity.

Dr. Abdallah Bouhabib, a Maronite Christian, is Lebanese ambassador to the US.