FM Livni: Syria must stop smuggling weapons if it seeks recognition

            Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni met Wednesday night with United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and expressed Israel's protest over the ongoing arms smuggling from Syria to Hizbullah in Lebanon and the continued firing of rockets from the Gaza Strip into the Jewish state. Livni, who is taking part in an Interfaith Dialogue at the UN headquarters, demanded that the Security Council respond to the violation of its resolution stating that Hizbullah must be disarmed and that the weapon smuggling must be halted."The ongoing arms smuggling constitutes a blatant violation of the Security Council resolutions. Syria, which wants to receive legitimization from the world, must be faced with a clear statement from the Council, making it responsible for the continued smuggling," Livni told Ban. She warned that "the arms smuggling endangers the entire region. The ongoing smuggling contradicts Syria's commitments to the Security Council. Halting the weapon smuggling will not be doing a favor to Israel." The UN chief, who expressed his concern over the humanitarian situation in Gaza during his meeting with President Shimon Peres, reiterated his concern in this meeting with the foreign minister. Livni, however, said the Palestinian side was fully responsible for the situation. "If we're asking who is responsible for the situation in Gaza, there is only one address – Hamas. Hamas is responsible for what is happening in Gaza, terror from Gaza continues, and we must not take any action which will even seemingly legitimize Hamas' regime or activity," she said.(10,17)