UN trying to obtain base rights in northern Lebanon
NATO is attempting to force the Lebanese government to turn
over to it base rights at the strategic airfield at Kleiat (Qolaiat) in
northern Lebanon for the use of the UN observer force being deployed to
Syria. Kleiat is located close to Lebanon’s northern border with Syria.
Kleiat airbase has long been sought after by the U.S., NATO, and now, the UN.
On January 24, 2012, WMR reported: “WMR’s sources in Beirut are
reporting that NATO is pressuring the Lebanese government to reopen a
small airport in northern Lebanon for international traffic ‘as soon as
possible.’”
As with the earlier request from NATO, Lebanon’s government, which
includes members of the pro-Syrian Hezbollah party, is resisting the
UN’s attempt to secure base rights at Kleiat.
Syria has agreed to accept up to 250 UN observers, although it
stressed the observer force should include officers from impartial
countries like Brazil, South Africa, India, and Russia.
In 2007, WMR was the first to report on the Bush administration’s
plans to build a NATO base in northern Lebanon near the Syrian border.
In April 2007, U.S., German, and Turkish officers surveyed
Kleiat airport in northern Lebanon, near Tripoli, the scene of severe
fighting between ‘Al Qaeda’-linked Fatah al-Islam guerrillas and
Lebanese army units, the latter supplied with weapons from the United
States. The assassinated Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri was known
to be strongly opposed to the planned American base in Lebanon.
Meanwhile, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is coming
under increased pressure from members of his Justice and Development
Party (AKP) government over his support for a NATO protection zone in
Syria along its border with Turkey. Increasingly, Erdogan is being seen
by more nationalist members of his party as serving the interests of the
West, including the U.S., Britain, France, and Germany.
http://www.intrepidreport.com/archives/5650
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