UN comes under fire from Lebanon, Hizbollah, Israel

By Samia Nakhoul

BEIRUT (Reuters): A serious crisis is rapidly escalating between Hizbollah, the United Nations and Israel over a controversial videotape linked to last year's abduction by Hizbollah of three Israeli soldiers in southern Lebanon.

The UN is coming under simultaneous fire from Hizbollah, the Lebanese government and Israel -- all of which accuse the world body of aiding their enemies while passing itself off as a neutral buffer between combatants.

Lebanon has denounced the UN for its decision to show Israel the videotape which could reveal information about Hizbollah guerrillas who may have been involved in the kidnapping of the three Israeli soldiers last October.

Both Lebanese President Emile Lahoud and Hizbollah itself said the showing of the tape amounted to handing over information to the "Israeli enemy" and raised questions about the world body's mission and role in Lebanon.

Hizbollah's fury was seen by Western analysts as a bad omen for the United Nations Interim Force In Lebanon (UNIFIL), which is stationed as a buffer force in the volatile southern border area between Israel and Lebanon.

They said the videotape crisis put UNIFIL's role under close scrutiny and raised fears of retribution against the peacekeeping force if the tape was handed over to Israel.

"The Lebanese authorities are not happy about this and clearly Hizbollah is very angry. They see it as handing information to the enemy and this proves in their eyes that the UN is siding with Israel and is not an impartial body"," a Western military analyst told Reuters on Monday.

"We all know that UNIFIL are not any fonder of Hizbollah or Israel, but there is a real danger this will trigger revenge and retribution and that UNIFIL becomes a target. Hizbollah might cease to cooperate with UNIFIL," he added.

Diplomats said intensive contacts were underway between Lebanon, Israel and the United Nations to contain the crisis.

"The intensity and fury behind this issue is unprecedented. This certainly is an all-out assault against UNIFIL," said a diplomat close to the talks.

The UN made the decision after Israel demanded the half-hour tape, which it believes could help identify those who kidnapped its soldiers in the Shebaa Farms, a disputed area at the junction of the Lebanese border and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

The existence of the tape, originally denied by the UN, has also caused furor in Israel which demanded an uncensored viewing of the tape filmed by UN peacekeepers in Lebanon.

As a way out, the UN said it would blur the faces of Hizbollah and allow Lebanese representatives, as well as Israeli officials, to view the footage, shot a day after the soldiers' capture on Oct. 7.

Israeli Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer slammed the UN for denying knowledge of the tape, and called its original offer to show it to Israel "disappointing and disturbing".

Raanan Gissin, a spokesman for Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, said any attempt to censor the tape would strengthen suspicions some UN forces "are collaborating with terrorists".

UN officials have said the tape does not shed light on the circumstances of the abduction. It shows Hizbollah guerrillas preventing UNIFIL peacekeepers from seizing two abandoned vehicles with fake UN license plates that may have been used in the abduction.

The UN said it decided to mask the faces of Hizbollah fighters because UNIFIL was not allowed to deliver intelligence to either side. It also said the tape offered no new details of the abduction.

But a senior UN official in New York said on Friday that the faces of the guerrillas on the controversial tape would be obscured in order to protect UN staff from retribution.

Syrian-backed Hizbollah -- a main force in driving Israel from south Lebanon last year after a 22-year occupation -- controls villages under UNIFIL mandate. It has vowed to drive Israeli troops from Shebaa Farms, which it as well as Beirut and Damascus claim as Lebanese soil.

The tape has not only embarrassed the UN but also infuriated Jewish groups and Israel, which faces criticism from the families of the missing soldiers for failing to get them back.

Hizbollah has offered to trade the three, as well as an Israeli reserve colonel it snatched a few weeks later under disputed circumstances, for all Israel's Lebanese and Arab prisoners.

"This is Israeli theater which reflects empty allegations and is aimed at getting the UN involved and putting pressure for a prisoners' swap according to the enemy's conditions which are not accepted by the resistance," Hizbollah deputy Mohammad Raad said in a statement.