Lebanese PM accuses Israel of crimes against humanity

August 21, 2006 - 0:0
BEIRUT (AFP) - Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora on Sunday accused Israel of committing crimes against humanity during its month-long offensive on his country.

"This is a criminal act which reflects Israel's hatred to destroy Lebanon and its unity," he said during a tour of Beirut's bombed-out southern suburbs with parliament speaker Nabih Berri.

"I hope all the international media will transmit this picture to every person in the world so that it shows this criminal act, this crime against humanity that Israel has committed in this area and every region of Lebanon."

Close to 1,300 people in Lebanon were killed and billions of dollars in damage caused to homes and infrastructure such as bridges and roads.

"We will not allow the Israeli enemy... to destroy our national unity," said Hezbollah MP Ali Ammar who met Siniora and Berri during their tour of the southern suburbs, a stronghold of the Shiite Muslim group.