Israelis Detain Lebanese in South
Daily Star 3/3/07
Israelis cross the Blue Line again.
The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) oversaw the return of a Lebanese man being detained by the Israeli Army after he was picked up in the vicinity of the UN-demarcated Blue Line on Friday. "UNIFIL today [Friday] facilitated a return to Lebanon of a young man who had been taken into custody by the [Israeli Army]," UNIFIL spokesperson Liam McDowell told The Daily Star. "The juvenile was transferred into Lebanese custody at 17:15 at the UN border position at Ras al-Naqoura."
Officials at the Lebanese Internal Security Force could not be contacted before The Daily Star went to print.
Hajj was reportedly driving a moped back and forth across the UN-demarcated Blue Line around 1 p.m., near the Sheikh al-Abaad Shrine, Lebanese security sources told The Daily Star. The Abaad Shrine lies across the UN-demarcated Blue Line. The National News Agency, however, reported that Hajj had crossed on foot.
The security source said that Hajj had ignored calls from the Indonesian UNIFIL troops to back away from the Blue Line and that the peackeepers had captured the incident on tape.
The man is a resident of Houla, a border village in South Lebanon. Hajj's age is uncertain, with the National News Agency reporting that he was 15 while other security sources placed him at 23 years of age.
UNIFIL said the Israeli Army reported that Hajj was taken into custody "in the immediate vicinity on the technical fence, east of Houla," said McDowell, adding that UNIFIL could not confirm or deny the presence of the Indonesian contingent at the scene.
Lebanese security sources told AFP that Hajj had been collecting scrap metal in an area near the border with Israel when he was detained.