United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

Security Council Resolution 1680, adopted on May 17, 2006, after recalling previous resolutions on

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

, including 425 (1978),

426 __NOTOC__ Year 426 (Roman numerals, CDXXVI) was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known in Rome as the Year of the Consulship of Theodosius II, Theodosius and Valentinian III, Valentinianus (or, less ...

(1978),

520 __NOTOC__ Year 520 ( DXX) was a leap year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. In the Roman Empire, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Rusticus and Vitalianus (or, less frequently, year 1273 ''Ab urbe condita''). The deno ...

(1982), 1559 (2004) and

1655 Events January–March * January 5 – Emperor Go-Sai ascends to the throne of Japan. * January 7 – Pope Innocent X, leader of the Roman Catholic Church and the Papal States, dies after more than 10 years of rule. * Febr ...

(2005), the Council strongly encouraged

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

to respond positively to Lebanon's request to delineate borders and establish

diplomatic relations Diplomacy is the communication by representatives of state, intergovernmental, or non-governmental institutions intended to influence events in the international system.Ronald Peter Barston, ''Modern Diplomacy'', Pearson Education, 2006, p. ...

, with the purpose of asserting Lebanon's sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence. The resolution, co-sponsored by

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, the

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and the

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, was adopted by a vote of 13 in favour, none against, and two

abstention Abstention is a term in election procedure for when a participant in a Voting, vote either does not go to vote (on election day) or, in parliamentary procedure, is present during the vote but does not cast a ballot. Abstention must be contrast ...

s from

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and

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; both countries believed the resolution constituted interference in the diplomatic relations between Lebanon and Syria.

Background

On April 18, 2006, the

Secretary-General Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, Power (social and political), power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the org ...

Kofi Annan Kofi Atta Annan (8 April 193818 August 2018) was a Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh secretary-general of the United Nations from 1997 to 2006. Annan and the UN were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize. He was the founder a ...

transmitted his third semi-annual report on the implementation of Resolution 1559, adopted on September 2, 2004. Resolution 1559 called for "the withdrawal of all remaining foreign forces from Lebanon; the disbanding and disarmament of all Lebanese and non-Lebanese militias; the extension of the control of the Lebanese Government over all Lebanese territory; and strict respect of the sovereignty, territorial integrity, unity, and political independence of Lebanon under the sole and exclusive authority of the Lebanese Government throughout Lebanon." The Secretary-General's report stated that many of the provisions listed in Resolution 1559, the 1989

Taif Agreement The 1989 Taif Agreement (, ), officially known as the ('')'', was reached to provide "the basis for the ending of the civil war and the return to political normalcy in Lebanon". Negotiated in Taif, Saudi Arabia, it was designed to end the 15 y ...

, and the lack of political stability, that Lebanon was still in a fragile and vulnerable state. This led to the adoption of the supporting resolution, 1680.

Resolution

Observations

The Security Council began by reiterating its support for the

territorial integrity Territorial integrity is the principle under international law where sovereign states have a right to defend their borders and all territory in them from another state. It is enshrined in Article 2(4) of the UN Charter and has been recognized as c ...

sovereignty Sovereignty can generally be defined as supreme authority. Sovereignty entails hierarchy within a state as well as external autonomy for states. In any state, sovereignty is assigned to the person, body or institution that has the ultimate au ...

and political independence of Lebanon within its internationally recognised borders. Furthermore, it noted that positive progress made through national dialogue, though regretted that some provisions of Resolution 1559 had not yet been fully implemented, namely the disbanding and disarming of Lebanese and non-Lebanese

militia A militia ( ) is a military or paramilitary force that comprises civilian members, as opposed to a professional standing army of regular, full-time military personnel. Militias may be raised in times of need to support regular troops or se ...

s, the extension of the control of the

Lebanese government Lebanon is a Parliamentary republic, parliamentary Democracy, democratic republic within the overall framework of Confessionalism (politics), confessionalism, a form of consociationalism in which the highest offices are proportionately reserv ...

over all its territory, the strict respect of the sovereignty, territorial integrity, unity and political independence of Lebanon, and free and fair presidential elections conducted according to the Lebanese constitutional rules, without foreign interference. The text of the resolution expressed concern that the Secretary-General reported a movement of arms into Lebanese territory for militias over the past six months. It expressed full support for the national dialogue and commended all Lebanese parties for their conduct.

Acts

The Security Council called for the full implementation of Resolution 1559, calling on all states and parties to co-operate full with the Lebanese government, Security Council and Secretary-General. It encouraged the

Syrian government The government of Syria takes place in a presidential system and is currently in a transitionary period under and led by a transitional government. The seat of the government is located in Damascus, Syria. On 8 December 2024, after the succ ...

to respond positively to the request made Lebanon to delineate their common border (particularly in disputed areas), while noting that such measures would constitute a step towards improving relations between the two countries as well as asserting Lebanon's independence, which in turn would contribute positively to the stability in the region. The resolution praised Lebanon for undertaking measures against the movements of arms and militia into Lebanese territory and called on Syria to adopt similar measures. Finally, it welcomed the decision of the Lebanese national dialogue to disarm Palestinian militias outside

refugee camp A refugee camp is a temporary Human settlement, settlement built to receive refugees and people in refugee-like situations. Refugee camps usually accommodate displaced people who have fled their home country, but camps are also made for in ...

s within six months.

References

External links