Security Council extends UNIFIL mandate until 31 July 1987, reiterates support for Lebanon's territorial integrity.

• Position: United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon

Security Council extends UNIFIL mandate until 31 July 1987, reiterates support for Lebanon's territorial integrity

THE Security Council on 15January extended the mandate of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) for a period of six months and 12 days-- until 31 July 1987.

Since UNIFIL was established inMarch 1978, its mandate has been extended 21 times for periods ranging from one to six months. It was last extended on 18 July 1986 for a six-month period--until 19 January 1987.

In unanimously adopting resolution594 (1987), the Council also reiterated its strong support for the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Lebanon within its internationally recognized boundaries and called on all parties concerned to co-operate fully with the Force for full implementation of its mandate.

It also re-emphasized the terms ofreference and general guidelines of the Force as stated in the Secretary-General's 19 March 1978 report, approved in Council resolution 426 (1978).

The Secretary-General was alsoasked to continue consultations with the Government of Lebanon and other parties directly concerned and to report back to the Council.

On 12 January, Lebanon, in a letterto the Secretary-General (S/18580), had asked for a six-month extension of the UNIFIL mandate, stating that it was convinced that despite the current situation in southern Lebanon, the Force continued to be "an indispensable factor for stability and the best available option for peace and security in the region'. Further sustained efforts were essential to enable UNIFIL to discharge fully its mandate, he said.

The Council meeting was its first in1987. Five new non-permanent members--Argentina, Federal Republic of Germany, Italy, Japan and Zambia--replaced Australia, Denmark, Madagascar, Thailand and Trinidad and Tobago for two-year terms.

A "difficult period'

Secretary-General Javier Perez deCuellar reported (S/18581, Corr.1, Add.1) that the period under view-- 11 July 1986 to 11 January 1987--had been a very difficult one for the 5,668-strong Force, commanded by Major-General Gustav Hagglund. Fifteen Force members had been killed and 43 wounded. Since 1978, the Secretary-General stated, 139 Force members had died, 57 of them as a result of firing and mine or bomb explosions, 60 in accidents and 22 from other causes. More than 200 had been wounded as a result of hostile action or mine explosions.

Armed resistance groups continuedto launch frequent attacks against the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) and the so-called "South Lebanon Army' (SLA) personnel and positions. In a particularly grave incident early on 2 January 1987, a group of armed elements, estimated to number 40 or more, briefly captured an IDF/SLA position near Brashit, killing six of the defenders.

On the evening of 10 January 1987an Irish corporal--Dermot McLoughlin--at a United Nations position in the village of Brashit had been killed by a round fired from an IDF tank during heavy and unprovoked bombardment of the village. The Force Commander had immediately and vigorously protested to the Israeli authorities. Israel had communicated to the Secretary-General on 14 January the preliminary findings of the investigation into the incident promised by the Israeli authorities. The Commission of Inquiry said the UNIFIL post had been misidentified as a "terrorist position' and had been mistakenly fired upon by an IDF tank, leading to Corporal McLoughlin's tragic death. An IDF soldier in the area had conveyed to his commander that the target was a UNIFIL position, but the latter, new to the area and unfamiliar with the terrain, had overruled his subordinate and had given the order to fire. The officer who had given that order had been immediately removed from his post. New directives, designed to prevent the recurrence of such a "tragic incident', had been issued to all IDF units in the area.

"The hopes that existed in 1984 and1985 that it would be possible to negotiate peacefully the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from Lebanese territory have not so far been realized', he stated.

Israel's determination to maintainits "security zone'--which embraced all of the area adjacent to the international border, parts of the Nepalese, Irish and Finnish battalion sectors, the area of deployment of the Norwegian battalion and extensive areas to the north of the UNIFIL area--had provoked equally determined resistance from various armed groups in Lebanon, the Secretary-General stated.

An increasingly violent conflict hadresulted. UNIFIL was seriously affected by that conflict, suffering casualties at the hands of all the main protagonists--the IDF and the SLA, and various...