New Hizballah Dedicated Networks in South Lebanon?
By David Schenker
Buried in the last paragraph of a story in the Lebanese daily An Nahar today was a short paragraph describing Hizballah’s efforts to “extend telecommunications cables in the areas of the south next to the public telephone lines.” The Lebanese Government is said to be studying this initiative.
This odd tidbit appears in an article with the subtitle “The Government Addresses the Extension of Phone Networks for Hizballah in the South.” The article itself provides few details, but raises a lot of questions. Why does Hizballah need its own dedicated communications network in the South, particularly given the proscriptions contained in UN Security Council Resolution 1701?