Hizbullah Seizes & Robs Four Italian Journalists -- Tsipi Livni to Blame

Another success for our semi-retarded former foreign minister, Tsipi Livni. She was the one who negotiated Security Council res. 1701 which supposedly ended the 2006 war in Lebanon. But, thanks to Livni as well as Western & Arab diplomats, that resolution was as full of holes as a Swiss cheese. The Hizbullah, not the UN force in Lebanon --UNIFIL-- nor the Lebanese army control the border zone. The Hizb rules there. Today they seized and robbed four Italian journalists who were being escorted by Italian troops attached to UNIFIL. That is, the Hizb does what it wants in the area of Lebanon along Israel's border, going so far as to sequester and rob journalists supposedly under UNIFIL protection.

Various articles report that four Italian journalists, two from Il Resto del Carlino and two others were stopped by Hizbullah forces at the village of Aita al-Sha`ab in south Lebanon a few kilometers from the Israeli border, whereas the border zone was to be free of Hizbullah forces according to the SC res. 1701. Only UNIFIL and Lebanese forces army forces were allowed to be there. But that was all on paper. In fact, Hizbullah rules the border zone and has for most of the time since the end of the 2006 Second Lebanon War.

The journalists were held and robbed of their mobile phones and their cameras. They were released but only after more than an hour --and without their phones and cameras and other equipment. The UN troops escorting them were released too. That's the success of SC res 1701. That is the worth of a UN Security Council resolution.

The article below is from Il Resto del Carlino of today. A link to a report in Il Giornale follows. Tsipi Livni who was foreign minister at the time in Olmert's govt, negotiated this disastrous resolution. She is now running as head of  a new party that she calls HaTenu`ah, The Movement. I won't speculate on what sort of movement she has in mind, backwards or forwards or downwards or whatever. But the main theme of her party's campaign is hatred of PM Netanyahu. Just what she and her party would do if they took power [unlikely] is unclear. They don't have a serious program for social or economic betterment, but their anti-Netanyahu stance is meant to fit in with US and European and Arab positions in favor of Israeli surrender and allowing the PLO/PA to violate its signed commitments.

Libano, sequestrati e rapinati giornalisti e fotoreporter bolognesi

Bloccati a bordo di un camion in un’area a maggioranza Hezbollah

Lo speciale: Brigata Friuli, diario dal Libano

I nostri collaboratori Mario Rebeschini e Rossella Santosuosso sono stati nelle mani dei banditi insieme con i colleghi Elisa Murgesee Gianfranco Salvatori. Liberati dopo oltre un'ora

Rossella Santosuosso ed Elisa Murgese (Foto di Mario Rebeschini)

Bologna, 7 gennaio 2013 - PAURA per un gruppo di giornalisti e fotoreporter in Libano. Nel giorno dell’Epifania, intorno alle 13, i quattro sono stati sequestrati e rapinati. Tra loro ci sono due bolognesi: i nostri collaboratori Mario Rebeschini e Rossella Santosuosso. «Al rientro dai riti greco cattolico romano e cristiano maroniti per ricordare l’Epifania — racconta il fotografo Mario Rebeschini — i due mezzi di scorta Unifil (United Nation Interim Force in Lebanon; ndr) di base a Shama, che ci accompagnavano, è stato bloccato da un gruppo di libanesi in un’area in maggioranza Hezbollah. Senza tanti complimenti noi, i militari e l’ufficiale di scorta siamo stati costretti a scendere dai camion e rapinati di cellulati, registratori e macchine fotografiche». Gli altri giornalisti sono Elisa Murgese e Gianfranco Salvatori. Dopo oltre un’ora di sequestro e l’arrivo di una pattuglia della Laf, le forze armate libanesi, e ripuliti di quanto avevano i quattro giornalisti sono stati tutti rilasciati e hanno fatto rientro nella base di Shama sani e salvi
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Here's the report in Il Giornale.