UN team to report on alleged arms smuggling to Lebanon

The team was due to meet army and security officials controlling border during the two-week mission requested by the UN Security Council, and then draw up a report for UN chief Ban Ki-moon, the source said.

Ban said last week the team "will review the roles of relevant agencies, with particular attention to current national customs and border monitoring capacities, as well as progress made by security and customs agencies in strengthening their control of the border."

The team is made up of experts from Algeria, Germany, Jamaica and Switzerland and is led by Lasse Rosenkrands of Denmark.

Earlier this month, Ban warned in a report that the alleged arms smuggling and the possible arming of various groups in Lebanon might deepen the country's political crisis.

Syria -- Lebanon's former powerbroker which pulled its troops out of its smaller neighbour in 2005 but remains highly influential -- has denied that weapons are making their way over the border into Lebanon.

Security Council resolution 1701, which ended the 34-day war between Israel and Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon last August, calls for the prevention of illegal arms sales and smuggling.

Source

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