TEL AVIV, Israel, Sept. 6 (UPI) -- Amid defiance by several Arab and international airlines, Israel announced it will lift its air and sea blockade on Lebanon in the next 24 hours.
A statement issued Wednesday by the office of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Israel will lift the blockade which it has been imposing since July 12, at 6 p.m. local time Thursday.
Israeli security sources told United Press International that with the lifting of the blockade, Israel expects Lebanon to ask the United Nations that the international forces being deployed in Lebanon take charge of curbing sea-borne arms smuggling.
The statement said U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan informed Olmert Wednesday morning that international troops were ready to deploy in certain positions in Lebanese ports and airports.
"As such," the statement said, "it was decided that at 18:00 hours tomorrow Israel will pull out from positions from which it was monitoring Lebanese ports and airports simultaneously with the deployment of the international forces."
The statement pointed out that German experts are expected to arrive in Beirut at any moment after the Lebanese government and the United Nations agreed on the deployment of German Navy forces off the Lebanese coast.
Lebanese legislators have been observing a sit-in in parliament since Saturday to press for lifting the blockade already challenged by several airliners, including the Qatar Airways and British Airways, which is expected to land at Beirut airport later Wednesday on the first commercial flight since July 12.
