U.S. and Israel seek to prevent rearming of Hezbollah

WASHINGTON -- The United States and Israel have launched a diplomatic effort to prevent other countries from helping rearm Hezbollah, warning that a resumption of the weapons flow could ignite new fighting in Lebanon just as the cease-fire begins to take hold.

Officials have been pressing major world arms suppliers -- notably Russia and China -- not to allow their weaponry to find its way to the Lebanese militant group. They also have been urging Turkish officials to prevent any flow of weapons across their land or airspace.

Israeli officials, who were jolted by the sophistication of Hezbollah's missiles during the 34-day war, fear that the rearmament of Hezbollah could put them face to face in the future with weapons with even greater capability to reach into Israel and to overcome its defenses. Israeli officials have made clear that they would try to destroy any shipment they detect, although such an attack probably would bring a Hezbollah retaliation and set off new fighting.

"We're very concerned about this issue," one Israeli official said. "It's the most urgent one on the table right now."

The stepped-up effort by U.S. and Israeli officials to cut the weapons flow to Hezbollah came as U.N. officials appealed Friday for greater European participation in an expanded multinational force for Lebanon. President Bush urged the French to increase its pledge of 200 additional troops.

"France has said they'd send some troops," Bush said at Camp David, Md. "We hope they send more."

Italy, meanwhile, formally agreed Friday to contribute troops to a multinational United Nations peacekeeping force in Lebanon. The government of Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi said the number had not yet been determined but officials have said they might send as many as 3,000 soldiers, a contingent that probably would end up being one of the largest.

Russian weapons

As Israel sought to stem the flow of more advanced munitions to militant fighters, officials in Israel disclosed Friday that a senior delegation visited Moscow this week to complain that Russia had sold sophisticated laser-guided Kornet anti-tank weapons to Iran and Syria, which in turn passed them along to Hezbollah.

Russia disputed the charge, saying it kept tight controls on such sales. Turkish and Chinese diplomats could not be reached Friday.

U.S. officials acknowledged that they have talked to Turkey about cutting off the shipment of arms by Iran across its territory, a route that was used during this summer's fighting, when Israel's forces cut off the usual overland and sea routes from Syria into Lebanon.

Acting on suspected weapons transfers, Turkey forced two Syria-bound Iranian planes to land at the Diyarbakir airport in the southeast of the country to search for rockets and other military equipment. The incidents took place on July 27 and Aug. 8, the Turkish Daily Hurriyet reported, but no military equipment was found.

A senior U.S. official, who like others insisted on anonymity because of the sensitivity of the diplomacy, said the Bush administration has "talked to any number of countries about this. ... We've made the case that we want them to be alert to this, and if they find people thinking about transferring materials that may not be going to the Lebanese army, they put a stop to it." He said the United States offered its help in trying to halt the flow.

The U.S. official said it appears that the major countries don't want to see a return to fighting, and "are pretty much on board with this." Yet he acknowledged the difficulty of maintaining an effective arms embargo, as, he noted, was demonstrated in the final years of Saddam Hussein's reign in Iraq.

"No embargo is perfect," he said. "That is a concern."

U.S. officials contend that United Nations members are obligated to do what they can to block arms traffic to Hezbollah under the U.N. Security Council resolution adopted last week.

During the fighting, Hezbollah used sophisticated anti-tank weapons not only to destroy Israeli armor, but also as anti-personnel weapons. According to Israeli estimates, nearly half of the 118 Israeli soldiers who died in the conflict were killed by such weapons.

Hezbollah also fired advanced Chinese-designed C-802 anti-ship cruise missiles at an Israeli warship on July 14. One of the missiles damaged the ship and killed four Israeli sailors.

Israel was able to disable a portion of Hezbollah's long range missiles in the opening hours of the conflict. But Israeli officials fear that if there is renewed fighting, Hezbollah will be better prepared.

Israel has been hoping that the new multinational force now forming for duty in Lebanon will be able to block arms shipments through the Lebanon's borders, airports and ports. But unresolved discussions at the United Nations about the force's duties have left unclear how active a role the force actually will have in guarding those entry points.

One U.N. official said early this week that the force will not take a direct role, but will act only as an adviser at the border crossings.

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David Schenker, a former top Pentagon policy aide on issues pertaining to Arabic countries, said attempts to halt the arms flow will face difficulties, both in persuading the top arms suppliers to exercise restraint, and in restricting traffic at the Lebanese border.

He said both Russia and China have been inconsistent in their support of such efforts in the past. Now, with China eager to maintain its close relationship with Iran, a key oil supplier, hopes of convincing Beijing to bar weapons transfers ``is a long shot at best.''

Schenker, now a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said he is skeptical that the U.N. force will have the manpower or the skills to halt the arms flow at the Lebanese border. But he said the Lebanese government could turn to independent international ``third party monitors,'' an idea that has been used in the past by Jordan and Indonesia to watch the passage of banned goods through their borders.

Schenker agreed that Israel unquestionably has a huge stake in halting the rearming. He said Israel might have destroyed as much as three-quarters of Hezbollah's rockets and missiles in the fighting.

But if Hezbollah is able to restore its arsenal, ``This whole campaign may have been for naught,'' he said.

LA TIMES-WASHINGTON POST--08-18-06 1925EDT