Written question asked by Louise Ellman (Labour) on Wednesday, 16 May 2007, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 21 May 2007. It was answered by Ian McCartney (Labour) on Monday, 21 May 2007 on behalf of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Weapons: Hezbollah

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if she will make an assessment of the implementation of United Nations Resolution 1701, on the rearmament of Hezbollah.

Answer: There has been considerable progress on the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1701, which brought the Israel/Hezbollah conflict to an end in August 2006.The UK continues to have concerns about breaches of UNSCR Resolution 1701, in particular on the arms embargo. In March the UN Secretary-General reported that there was mounting evidence that Hezbollah was rearming and smuggling arms across the Syria/Lebanon border.The UK continues to work to ensure the full implementation of UNSCR 1701. We are supporting a German-led initiative to improve border security and prevent arms smuggling across the Syria/Lebanon border. We have also provided the Lebanese armed forces with 50 Land Rovers to increase their mobility and capacity to implement UNSCR 1701. The UK has also welcomed the Secretary-General’s proposal for UN assessment mission to travel to Lebanon to assess the security at the border and make recommendations.

Secondary information