February 16, 2011
By Staff Reporter
By Andrew Bushe
DUBLIN — Intensifying artillery duels around the Irish positions in South Lebanon have led Defense Minister Michael Smith to warn that he will pull army units out of the UNIFIL peace-keeping force unless the battles stop.
Smith was forced to cut short a visit to the Irish units by the hostilities and he has made strong protests to the Lebanese and Isr’li governments and sought guarantees the hostilities cease.
"What is happening here at the moment is dangerous and reckless and it has to be stopped,’ Smith said. "We are not only indicating the government’s deep concern but there has been a change here in terms of securing the safety of our troops."
He said that if security is threatened beyond a certain point and there isn’t a positive response, then the government would review the
position of keeping the troops there. He said pulling out the battalion would be a "last resort position."
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There was firing close to the Irish compound and at times into it. "While we know peace-keeping can be risky, these incidents go way beyond the threshold. It is the first time in 31 years that there has been a stiffening of the relations between the Irish and the Lebanese and Isr’lis on this issue," Smith said.
Smith is visiting Lebanon with the army chief of staff General David Stapleton for the first time since Private William Kedian, 22, from Mayo was killed and another soldier was seriously injured during a shelling exchange on May 31.
The minister also visited Private Ronnie Rush, 22, from Offaly, who is being treated in an Isr’li hospital after that attack.
The Isr’li army acknowledged they were responsible for the shell that his the Irish position last month.
Three UN posts were damaged by shells fired from the Isr’li-occupied zone this week. The shells caused damage, but did not inflict casualties.
Two shells hit two Irish positions in Barasheet and Haddatha while a third shell fell on a Polish post. The shells were fired during a duel
between the Iranian-backed Hizbollah and pro-Isr’li forces.
Hizbollah fired 18 mortar rounds and Isr’li artillery fire off about 30 shells. The nine-nation UNIFIL has lost 227 peacekeepers, including 41 Irish soldiers, since it was deployed in southern Lebanon in 1978 after Isr’l invaded Lebanon.
The UN called for Isr’li withdrawal straight away after the invasion and, following his May 17 election victory, the incoming Isr’li prime minister Ehud Barak pledged to pull Isr’li troops out within a year.