Khaddam “Steals” the Text of the Lebanese-Israeli Agreement from Elie Salem (6 of 6)

2 — Security Arrangements:

The Lebanese authorities shall take special security measures to detect and prevent hostile activities, as well as to detect and prevent the entry or movement of unauthorized armed personnel and the entry or movement of unauthorized military equipment within the security zone or elsewhere. Except for the exceptions provided for, the following security arrangements shall apply throughout the entire security zone:

a. The only organized armed forces and personnel permitted in the security zone shall be the Lebanese Army, the Lebanese Police and Internal Security Forces, and the Lebanese auxiliary forces—the Ansar—established under the full authority of the Lebanese Government, except as otherwise provided elsewhere in this Annex. The Security Arrangements Committee may approve the deployment in the security zone of other similar Lebanese armed personnel belonging to the Ansar.

b. There shall be no numerical limits on the Lebanese Police, Internal Security Forces, and Ansar stationed in the security zone. These forces and personnel shall be equipped with individual light automatic weapons, while the Internal Security Forces shall also be equipped with reconnaissance or commando armored vehicles, as specified in the Appendix.

c. Two Lebanese Army brigades shall be stationed in the security zone. One shall be a territorial brigade whose area of operations shall extend from the Lebanese-Israeli border to Line B shown on the attached map. The second shall be a regular brigade stationed in the area extending from Line B to Line A. These two brigades may possess the organic weapons and equipment listed in the Appendix. Subject to arrangements established by the Security Arrangements Committee, additional units equipped in accordance with the Appendix to this Agreement may be deployed in the security zone for training purposes, including recruit training, or in cases of operational emergency.

d. The local units currently in existence shall be incorporated into the Lebanese Army in accordance with the applicable regulations of the Lebanese Army. The existing local civil guard shall likewise be incorporated into the Ansar and granted the appropriate status under Lebanese law, enabling it to continue guarding the villages within the security zone. The process of extending Lebanese authority over these units and the civil guard, under the supervision of the Committee, shall begin immediately after the Agreement enters into force and shall be completed before the Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon is completed.

e. Lebanese Army units may retain within the security zone their organic anti-aircraft weapons, as specified in the Appendix. Outside the security zone, Lebanon may deploy shoulder-fired air-defense missiles and short- and medium-range missiles. After three years from the date this Agreement enters into force, the Security Arrangements Committee may redeploy them, at the request of either party, in accordance with arrangements concerning the area outside the security zone.

f. Military electronic equipment in the security zone shall be that specified in the Appendix to this Agreement. The deployment of ground-based radar within ten kilometers of the Lebanese-Israeli border shall require the approval of the Security Arrangements Committee. Throughout the security zone, such radars shall be deployed so that their detection sector does not extend beyond the Lebanese-Israeli border. This requirement shall not apply to radars used for monitoring civil aviation or air transport.

g. The requirement set out in paragraph (e) shall also apply to anti-aircraft missiles carried aboard vessels of the Lebanese naval forces within the security zone. Lebanon may deploy naval units and establish and maintain naval bases or other coastal installations required for the performance of its naval mission. Coastal installations within the security zone shall be determined in accordance with the Appendix to this Agreement.

h. In order to prevent incidents arising from mistaken identification, the Lebanese military authorities shall provide advance notification of all flights of any kind over the security zone, according to procedures established by the Security Arrangements Committee. Such flights shall not require approval.

i.

1. The military forces, weapons, and military equipment that may be introduced into, stationed or stored within, or transported through the security zone shall be those specified in this Annex and its Appendix.
2. No auxiliary installations, equipment, or structures may be established or maintained within the security zone that could assist in preparing weapons not permitted under this Annex or its Appendix.
3. This restriction shall also apply wherever this Annex contains a provision concerning areas outside the security zone.

3 — Security Arrangements Committee:

a. A Security Arrangements Committee shall be established within the framework of the Joint Liaison Committee. It shall consist of equal numbers of Lebanese and Israeli representatives, headed by commanding officers. A representative of the United States of America shall participate in the Committee’s meetings at the request of either party. Decisions of the Security Arrangements Committee shall be taken by agreement of the parties.

b. The Security Arrangements Committee shall supervise the implementation of the security arrangements, in addition to the timetable, procedures, and other measures relating to the withdrawals specified in the Agreement and in this Annex.

For this purpose, and by agreement of the parties, the Committee shall:

1. Supervise the implementation of the parties’ commitments in accordance with the Agreement and this Annex.
2. Establish and administer the Joint Verification Committees as detailed below.
3. Address and seek to resolve any problem arising from the implementation of the security arrangements contained in the Agreement and this Annex, and discuss any violation reported to it by the Joint Verification Committees or any complaint submitted by either party concerning a violation.

c. The Security Arrangements Committee shall address any complaint submitted to it within no more than 24 hours of its submission.

d. The Security Arrangements Committee shall meet at least once every two weeks, alternately in Lebanon and Israel. If either party requests a special meeting, it shall be held within 24 hours of the request. The first meeting shall take place within 48 hours of the Agreement entering into force.

e. Joint Verification Committees:

1. The Security Arrangements Committee shall establish Lebanese-Israeli Joint Verification Committees under its authority, composed of equal numbers of representatives from the two parties.
2. The Committees shall periodically verify compliance with the security arrangements. They shall immediately submit to the Security Arrangements Committee a report on any confirmed violation and shall also verify that the violation has been corrected.
3. When requested to do so, the Security Arrangements Committee shall assign a Joint Verification Committee to inspect the security arrangements along the border established pursuant to Article Four of this Agreement, on the Israeli side of the international border.
4. The Joint Verification Committees shall have freedom of movement on land, at sea, and in the air, as necessary to carry out their duties within the security zone.
5. The Security Arrangements Committee shall determine all technical and administrative arrangements relating to the performance of the Joint Verification Committees’ functions, including their procedures, number, operation, weapons, and equipment.
6. Upon submission of a report to the Security Arrangements Committee, or once a Joint Verification Committee has confirmed the validity of a complaint by either party, the party concerned shall immediately, and in any event no later than 24 hours from the date of the report or confirmation, correct the violation and immediately notify the Security Arrangements Committee. Upon receiving the notification, the Joint Verification Committees shall verify that the violation has been corrected.

7. The mission of the Joint Verification Committees shall be terminated within 90 days following notification to that effect submitted by either party at any time it chooses after two years from the entry into force of this Agreement. Before their termination, alternative verification arrangements shall be established through the Joint Liaison Committee, which may at any time determine that such arrangements are no longer necessary.

f. The Security Arrangements Committee shall work to establish practical and rapid communications between the parties along the border, in order to prevent incidents through coordination among the forces deployed on the ground.

4. It is understood that the Lebanese Government may request the United Nations Security Council to take appropriate measures to deploy a UNIFIL unit in the Sidon area, in order to assist the Lebanese Government and the Lebanese Armed Forces in establishing their authority and providing the necessary protection in the areas of the Palestinian refugee camps for a period of 12 months. The unit stationed in the Sidon area shall have the right, at the request of the Lebanese Government and after notifying the Security Arrangements Committee, to send groups of its personnel to inspect and monitor the areas of the Palestinian refugee camps in the vicinity of Sidon and Tyre. The Lebanese authorities shall remain solely responsible for security and policing functions, and the Lebanese Government shall work to fully implement the provisions of this Annex in these areas.

5. Three months after the completion of the withdrawal of all Israeli forces from Lebanon, the Security Arrangements Committee shall conduct a comprehensive assessment of the suitability of the arrangements set out in this Annex, with a view to improving them.

6 — Withdrawal of Israeli Forces:

a. Within a period ranging from eight to twelve weeks from the entry into force of the Agreement, all Israeli forces shall have withdrawn from Lebanon, in accordance with Lebanon’s objective of the withdrawal of all foreign forces from Lebanon.

b. The Lebanese Armed Forces and the Israeli Defense Forces shall maintain continuous contact during the withdrawal and shall exchange all information through the Security Arrangements Committee. The Israeli Defense Forces shall also cooperate with the Lebanese Armed Forces during their withdrawal in order to facilitate the restoration and consolidation of the authority of the Lebanese Government as the Israeli armed forces carry out their withdrawal.

After the reading of the draft agreement was completed, Dr. Elie Salem said:

“Let us be practical and objective. We are a country that has been occupied by Israel and we want to get it out. We are not happy about paying the price, but we are compelled to pay it. I believe that, given the efforts we have made, this is the lowest price we can pay under the present circumstances in order to liberate Lebanon from this presence. At the same time, what matters to you is that throughout this process we have benefited from the Syrian card, and at all times we have made every effort to benefit from you in order to reduce the Israeli conditions.

“The problem now is that there has to be a price that we will pay. Are we little children? There is a price we will pay. The price is like what we paid in the 1949 Armistice, when our army was almost in Palestine. Now the Israeli army is in Beit Meri, in Beirut, so we are paying a price. There is no way for us to get Israel out now except by paying this price, and this is the lowest price possible. It does not differ in kind or substance from the armistice agreements between Lebanon and Israel, Syria and Israel, Jordan and Israel, and Egypt and Israel.”

A lengthy discussion then took place. Later that same afternoon, President Hafez received the Lebanese delegation, and discussions were held concerning the agreement along the same lines as those discussed at the Foreign Ministry. The Lebanese minister was informed of our categorical rejection of the agreement.

It is useful in this context to note that on April 26, 1983, after we became convinced that an agreement between the parties negotiating in Beirut was likely to be reached, we informed the United States, the Soviet Union, Saudi Arabia, and Lebanon as follows:

“We have learned that there is a possibility of reaching a Lebanese-Israeli agreement that would impose gains in Israel’s favor. Any gains that such an agreement achieves for Israel will prolong the presence of our forces until those gains are eliminated.”

It should be noted that the National Salvation Front held a meeting on February 3, 1984, at the home of President Suleiman Frangieh in Zgharta. Khaddam had agreed with Mr. Walid Jumblatt to hold this meeting and to issue a statement, taking into consideration the limits that President Frangieh could accept.

Following the meeting, the Front issued the following statement, read by Mr. Rashid Karami:

• The Front called for a comprehensive and inclusive ceasefire.
• The Lebanese Army should be kept neutral and not drawn into the internal conflict, in order to preserve the mission of the military service and the unity of the armed forces.
• The multinational force should be withdrawn from Lebanon, and neutral alternatives should be sought after the force had become a party to the fighting.
• Support the steadfastness of the Lebanese National Resistance and return to the Geneva Conference, whose objective was the annulment of the May 17 Agreement, and work toward achieving an unconditional Israeli withdrawal.
• Abolish all manifestations and practices of domination, including coercive measures, legislative decrees, and appointments.
• Regard national dialogue as the only means of mobilizing the country’s resources, liberating the territory, and establishing a reform program, and call for the resumption of dialogue on the basic principles of the Geneva Conference.

On February 9, the Front held a series of meetings in Damascus. President Hafez also received its members, Suleiman Frangieh, Rashid Karami, and Walid Jumblatt, emphasizing the importance of the Front’s continued existence, cohesion, and unity, particularly since it had become part of Lebanese political life.

The meeting addressed the fundamental issues, including the formation of a government and the resignation of Amin Gemayel. There was complete agreement that no government should be formed before agreement had been reached on the political program.

The Front’s leadership agreed on the following:

1. Insist on the annulment of the May 17 Agreement as a fundamental condition for entering into national dialogue.
2. Work to stop the fighting and condemn the army’s operations in the southern suburbs and the Mountain.
3. Withdraw the army to its barracks, hold accountable those responsible for the destruction of the southern suburbs and the Mountain, and establish a supreme committee to oversee the armed forces.