Lebanese slam US double standards regarding Israel's occupations of Lebanon and Palestine

CAIRO: Foreign Minister Jean Obeid, representing Lebanon at the Arab League meeting in Cairo on Tuesday, said he would discuss UN Security Council Resolution 1559 with other Arab delegates next week.

Speaking during a news conference in Cairo before boarding a plane back home, Obeid said that the Lebanese attitude with regard to Resolution 1559 would be based on "international legitimacy and the natural sovereignty rights" of UN member states.

He added that a meeting of Arab delegates to the UN would be hosted in New York by the Egyptian delegation to the UN.

The resolution was passed earlier this month demanding foreign forces to leave Lebanon -- a call aimed at Syria, which has some 20,000 soldiers throughout the country.

Despite media reports of a split among Arab League members over the Security Council resolution, the Cairo conference failed to make any direct mention of it. Instead, it expressed solidarity with both Lebanon and Syria indicating that Lebanon was a sovereign state and master of its own decisions (on whether or not Syrian forces should be asked to leave.)

Lebanese authorities have always insisted that the presence of Syrian forces here was essential to political stability.

Obeid played down Resolution 1559 in front of reporters and argued that it was adopted under "Chapter VI not Chapter VII of the UN Charter, i.e. that it should be implemented without the use of force."

Obeid accused the world powers of adopting double standards with regard to UN resolutions.

"They act as great powers against weaker countries or against some Arab and Muslim states," he said. "However, they do not do the same with regard to Israel, which has always disregarded the international community, the UN Charter and international laws."

Obeid said the resolution was not put to a vote, adding that "the issue of the resolution was exaggerated."

Obeid slammed the U.S. Congress' latest call on Syria to withdraw from Lebanon and U.S. criticism of Syria and Lebanon on human rights grounds. "The U.S. Congress would do better to focus on human rights violations in the West Bank and in Iraq."

He said Lebanon was being asked to deal with the issue of the national anti-Israeli resistance without bearing in mind that there is Lebanese land still under Israeli occupation.

He also added that Lebanon was being asked to use force against the Palestinian refugees.

"But we have our own ways of dealing with them until they have a sovereign state to return to," Obeid said.