UN fears Middle East violence set to escalate

The UN has warned that there will be further violence in the Middle East as the situation between Israel, Syria and Lebanon, has "deteriorated sharply" in last few.

On Sunday Israeli forces crossed Lebanese airspace and struck an area that Israel said was a training-camp for militants deep inside Syria as retaliation for a suicide bombing in Israel on Saturday.

Then on Monday an attack from Lebanese territory, across the Blue Line marking the Israeli line of withdrawal, killed an Israeli soldier.

Following talks in Beirut with Lebanese President Emile Lahoud, Terje Roed-Larsen, UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, said: "Attacks and counter-attacks like these are leading us down a steep and precarious path toward more violence.

"I seriously advise the parties not to travel down that road. Instead, all parties should respect Security Council resolutions and the rules of international law.

The Beirut talks represented the first leg of a regional tour that will also take in Syria and Jordan.

"Specifically, this means that the government of Israel must refrain from the unilateral use of force, address its complaints to the Security Council and stop violations of Lebanese airspace," he added.

"The government of Lebanon must exert control over the use of force from all its territory and prevent all attacks across the Blue Line in whatever terms."

Mr Roed-Larsen said that he was "extremely worried" about the new and complex web of conflicts in the region, "which has been widened and deepened by the potential reopening of a new front between Israel and Syria and a potential breaking up of the Blue Line".

These developments came against the backdrop of a "political vacuum" in Israeli-Palestinian relations and a wider context of "difficult situations" in Iraq and Afghanistan, said the UN spokesperson.

(gmcg)