(Communicated by the Foreign Minister's Bureau)
Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Tzipi Livni met on Wednesday (August 16) with UN Secretary General Kofi Annan in New York. She told the Secretary General, "The fact that the kidnapped soldiers have not yet been released by Hizbullah constitutes a clear violation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701, and I expect that the international community continue to work for their immediate release." The Secretary General agreed to the request by the foreign minister that he meet with the families of the kidnapped soldiers.
In addition to her meeting with Secretary-General Annan, Foreign Minister Livni will meet in New York with U.S. Ambassador John Bolton, Senator Hillary Clinton, the American media and leaders of the Jewish community.
According to UN Security Council Resolution 1701, Secretary General Kofi Annan is responsible for supervising the implementation of the resolution, in particular the establishment of the multinational force. Foreign Minister Livni 's meeting with the Secretary General focused on the composition of this force. She stressed Israel's expectation that the force will be of high quality, with real military capabilities, and composed of soldiers from appropriate countries. FM Livni also told the Secretary General that Israel expects to see the force deployed as soon as possible. "This force must be capable of implementing the Security Council resolution, backed by the international community, as stated in the resolution," she said.
FM Livni also placed special emphasis on the need to enforce the arms embargo on Lebanon under the terms defined in Resolution 1701, with effective supervision.