Washington, Oct 01: The United States has suspended USD 10 million in aid to Lebanon until its military takes full control of an area along its border with Israel, which is currently used by radical Islamic militants to stage attacks against Israeli targets. The provision is contained in the 2003 foreign relations authorization act signed by President George W Bush yesterday. But in signing the measure, bush said he was reserving the right to ignore provisions of the bill that infringe on his constitutional responsibility to conduct foreign policy.

Under the act, the $ 10 million (Euros) cannot be provided to Lebanon until the president certifies that the Lebanese armed forces have been deployed to the internationally recognized border between Lebanon and Israel and the government of Lebanon is effectively asserting its authority in the area. South Lebanon is home to the militant Islamic group Hezbollah, which periodically uses the region to shell Israeli territory.

The New York Times reported last Friday that hezbollah had amassed thousands of surface-to-surface missiles in southern Lebanon, including weapons with sufficient range to strike cities in northern Israel. The report said senior Israeli and western officials were concerned that Hezbollah could step up its attacks on Israel ahead of possible US military action against Iraq.

State Department Spokesman Richard Boucher said that the United States had allocated $ 32 million for development assistance to Lebanon in fiscal 2002 and that money was available.

Bureau Report