Statement by the Press Secretary/Director-General for Press and Public Relations, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, on the Recent Situation in Lebanon

February 8, 2000

Japan has been concerned over the recent intensified fighting in Southern Lebanon. On February 7, the Israeli Air Force struck a power station in Eastern Lebanon where Hezbolla's bases were located, another one in North Lebanon as well as a substation on the outskirts of the city of Beirut and other targets. The raid was carried out in retaliation for Hezbollah's attacks in Southern Lebanon initiated last month leaving five Israeli soldiers and a senior officer of the South Lebanon Army killed while twelve others injured.
Japan deplores the fact that the attacks heightened the tension over the situation in Lebanon and severely affected daily civilian life in the country.
Japan is concerned that such deterioration in the situation over Lebanon should give a negative effect upon the environment surrounding the Middle East peace process, at a time when it is hoped to make progress toward a comprehensive peace, as can been seen in Prime Minister Barak's pledge to withdraw Israeli forces from Lebanon by July this year, the resumption of the negotiations on the Syrian Track for the first time in the past approximately four years, and the official resumption of the multilateral negotiations at the Steering Group meeting held in Moscow on February 1. The Government of Japan urges all the parties to immediately suspend the use of force and to exert maximum self-restraint in order to avoid further deterioration of the situation.
Japan has been calling upon the parties concerned to restore peace in the region, as shown in the Four-Point Proposal on Southern Lebanon, and it intends to actively continue such efforts.

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