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 (Reuters)
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Last update - 09:36 26/10/2009
Israel to UN: We'll continue to gather intelligence in Lebanon
By Barak Ravid
Tags: Lebanon, Espionage 

The United Nations has asked Israel for clarifications on "listening devices" that the Lebanese authorities claim were revealed near the village of Hula in southern Lebanon last week. The request was made following an official Lebanese petition to the UN.

Israel neither denied nor confirmed that it had placed intelligence-gathering equipment in the area, but informed the UN that collecting intelligence in southern Lebanon will continue as long as the government in Beirut is not in full control of its territory.

Last Wednesday, a tripartite meeting was held at the UNIFIL base near the Rosh Hanikra border crossing between representatives of Israel, Lebanon and the UN regarding recent tensions in the area. Lebanon claimed, according to foreign press reports, that it had uncovered monitoring devices planted by Israel on its soil.
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The UN peacekeeping force was represented by the force commander, Major General Claudio Graziano, while Lebanon was represented by the commander of the Lebanese Army's liaison unit and Israel was represented by the head of the Strategic Branch in the Planning Department at the General Staff, Brigadier Yossi Hayman.

A western diplomat privy to the details of the meetings noted that one of the main issues discussed was the exposure of the listening devices. According to Lebanese security sources, an investigation into the matter revealed that the equipment was used to tap into the Hezbollah telephone network, which is independent of the Lebanese network.

The UNIFIL commander and the Lebanese officer asked for details on the listening equipment. The UN officers said that the equipment appeared to have been put in place during the August 2006 Second Lebanon War, but the Lebanese officer insisted that the equipment appeared to be more up-to-date. "It seems that something new was put in place recently," the Lebanese representative argued.

The western diplomat said that Hayman did not deny that the equipment was Israeli listening devices, and did not respond directly to the questions asked by his interlocutors. However, he did stress that Israel will make use of its intelligence gathering capabilities so long as Hezbollah pose a threat. "Israel will continue to use all means necessary to defend its citizens," Hayman was quoted as saying.

He reportedly added that it is not reasonable to expect Israel to sit idle and wait to be attack. He said that the exposure of the listening devices should be evaluated "in the broadest sense" and in light of the situation in southern Lebanon, where Hezbollah continues to arm itself and occasionally fires rockets into Israel.

"In view of all this we do not consider this instance [of listening devices] as an Israeli violation of Resolution 1701," Hayman said, referring to the Security Council decision that brought the Second Lebanon War to an end and decreed that Hezbollah would not keep arms south of the Litani River.

On Sunday last week, villages in southern Lebanon were rocked by explosions and Lebanese media said that Israel had destroyed listening devices placed in the area in order to avoid their capture.

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      1.   Why would Lebanon care, unless they Hez is their army 02:26  |  Cynic 26/10/09
      2.   A blatant violation of 1701 and quite typical... 02:30  |  BBSNews 26/10/09
      3.   I would`ve assumed Hezbollah k-n-e-w Israel was listening in - 02:35  |  ivo 26/10/09
      4.   Why Complain? 02:43  |  Mark of Lewiston 26/10/09
      5.   sounds ify.. 03:01  |  paul 26/10/09
      6.   But UNIFIL doesnt enquire into the inflow of thousands of Rockets 03:07  |  Alan SA 26/10/09
      7.   Um?shocking? declared enemies spying on each other. 06:42  |  David G 26/10/09
      8.   a little sneaky peaky adds a bit of strife to life 06:46  |  eric 26/10/09
      9.   The real Lebanon In Song 09:18  |  Roger 26/10/09
      10.   Well, it`s worth a laugh, anyway... 09:31  |  Johnboy 26/10/09
      11.   Tapping into Hezbollah Telephone System. 10:33  |  Stephen. 26/10/09
      12.   and now Israel doesn`t want the UN to view the 1701 11:20  |  Benny 26/10/09
      13.   Israel in violation of a UN resolution 11:22  |  Sarah G 26/10/09
      14.   What about aborigins, Johnboy? Under control? 11:28  |  Israeli citizen 26/10/09
      15.   Paging Goldstone--more Israeli war crimes! 11:49  |  IW 26/10/09
      16.   UNHass done nothing but provide human shields for rearming Hezb 12:18  |  PETER SM 26/10/09
      17.   What silly responses 12:34  |  Mark Lincoln 26/10/09
      18.   What about them, Israeli citizen? 13:06  |  Johnboy 26/10/09
      19.   Very clever Israeli Citizen 13:48  |  Adrian 26/10/09
      20.   IMPRESSIVE move by Israel 14:11  |  Mark from Georgia 26/10/09
      21.   #13 Israeli citizen to JB is that question also for PSM 15:05  |  Labhras 26/10/09
      22.   #13 Israeli citizen to JB is that question also for PSM 15:05  |  Labhras 26/10/09
      23.   Israel: Adhering to UN agreements is for suckers 15:49  |  Natallie Durson 26/10/09
      24.   Semantics 16:13  |  A Law Buff 26/10/09
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