Ban to Discuss Syria, STL in Lebanon

U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon's fourth visit to Lebanon, which starts on Friday, is expected to focus on the controversial Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) and the deadly crisis in n Syria.

A government source told Agence France Presse that Ban was expected to address Lebanon's duties to the STL that has charged four Hizbullah operatives in the 2005 assassination of ex-Premier Rafik Hariri.

Under a protocol establishing the STL, the court’s mandate may be renewed if it has not completed its work.

Days ahead of Ban's visit to the region, which will also take him to the United Arab Emirates, top Hizbullah official Sheikh Mohammed Yazbeck said the U.N. leader was "not welcome" in Beirut.

An analyst said the group's stance was not surprising.

"Hizbullah has never been that welcoming to Ban Ki-moon... What Hizbullah said is very much expected," said Timur Goksel, a political science lecturer at the American University of Beirut and former spokesman for the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).

"More than Ban, I think their reaction is mainly against the U.N. reports," Goksel told AFP of reports on the implementation of U.N. Security Council resolutions 1559 and 1701 calling for the disbanding and disarmament of all groups in Lebanon other than the army.

The reports regularly denounce Hizbullah's arsenal and call on the group to give up its weapons.

According to the government source, Ban will also address the deadly crackdown on dissent in Syria, as well as its repercussions in Lebanon and border violations by Syrian troops.

Since October, six people have been killed by Syrian troops during regular incursions into Lebanon, where they have opened fire on border villages.

Lebanon and Syria share a 330-kilometer (205-mile) border but have yet to agree on official demarcation, an issue that is also on Ban's Lebanon agenda, according to the government source.

Ban's visit to Lebanon comes amid a U.N. "strategy" review of UNIFIL troops, who have been the target of several attacks in recent months.

He is expected to visit the peacekeeping force stationed at south Lebanon's border with Israel.

The U.N. chief is also slated to attend a two-day conference organized by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) on the Arab world's transition to democracy.