Peacekeeping Mission Denies Decision to Pull Civilians Out of Lebanon

The spokesperson of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon denied on Friday that the peacekeeping command had decided to evacuate civilian employees and their families.

“There is no decision to pull out civilian employees or their families from Lebanon,” UNIFIL spokeswoman Antoinette Midday told Voice of Lebanon (93.3) radio.

“We will inform the media about it if something changes,” she said.

Her denial came in response to a report in al-Akhbar daily on Friday that UNIFIL's leadership informed the mission's foreign civilian staff about its intention to send their families back home.

UNIFIL sources told the newspaper that UNIFIL Commander Maj.-Gen. Paolo Serra has not yet signed the decision although a top official from the mission's political affairs department stressed that the families will start leaving Lebanon through Beirut's Rafik Hariri International Airport on Sunday.

Al-Akhbar said that the command did not specify the direct reasons behind its intention to evacuate the families. But the UNIFIL sources said the move comes as part of the preventive measures taken by U.N. missions around the globe to protect its members in case of a regional security development.

U.N. experts are investigating the alleged use of chemical weapons in Syria as the U.S. and allies prepare for the possibility of a punitive strike against President Bashar Assad's regime, blamed by the Syrian opposition for the attack.

Damascus is a critical ally for Tehran as a major foothold in the Arab world and its pathway to funnel aid to its main proxy, Hizbullah.

Iran's strategy includes a series of warnings that Israel could be drawn into a wider conflict — most likely by Hizbullah offensives — if the U.S. and others launch attacks on Syrian government sites.

UNIFIL is deployed south of the Litani river, which is a Hizbullah stronghold.