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U.S. Criticizes Israel’s Transfer of Lebanon Prisoners

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Times Staff Writer

Israel’s transfer of about 1,200 Lebanese prisoners Tuesday from a detention camp in southern Lebanon to a prison in Israel is inconsistent with international law governing the treatment of civilians, the State Department said Wednesday.

“We have consistently taken the position that the Fourth Geneva Convention applies to areas of Lebanon under Israeli occupation,” a department spokesman said. “According to the convention, protected persons (civilian prisoners) are to be detained only within the occupied country. Their transfer to the territory of the occupying power is prohibited, regardless of motive.”

The spokesman added, however, that Israeli spokesmen have said the detainees will be released later.

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The Fourth Geneva Convention, adopted in 1949, covers the treatment of persons taken prisoner during military occupation.

The prisoners, mostly Shia Muslims accused by Israel of attacks on Israeli soldiers, had been held at the Ansar detention camp, a sprawling facility in southern Lebanon that the Israelis opened soon after their invasion of Lebanon on June 6, 1982. Israel will soon remove its troops from the vicinity of Ansar as part of its unilateral withdrawal from Lebanon.

Israel plans to hand over the area’s security duties to an Israeli-sponsored Lebanese militia known as the South Lebanon Army, and Israeli officials said in Jerusalem that the decision to send the prisoners across the border was made for their own safety.

In effect, that comment was tacit confirmation that the mainly Christian militia cannot be trusted not to stage retaliatory attacks against their longtime Shia enemies.

In another Mideast development, the House Foreign Affairs Committee approved nearly $1.5 billion in supplemental economic aid to Israel only hours after Secretary of State George P. Shultz urged Congress to delay setting a foreign aid figure for Israel until it puts its economy in order.

Testifying before a Senate Appropriations subcommittee, Shultz criticized congressional efforts to give Israel the extra $1.5 billion for fiscal 1985 and 1986.

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“It seems to me that if Israel is going to be encouraged to come to grips with its economic problems, it should not find another $1.5 billion until it has taken necessary steps,” Shultz said. “Prime Minister (Shimon) Peres has taken a number of courageous steps, but they aren’t there yet, and I think we should wait.”

The Administration has recommended $1.8 billion in military aid for fiscal 1986, which begins Oct. 1, an increase of $400 million from the level for the current fiscal year. In addition, the Administration has proposed $1.2 billion in economic aid for 1986, unchanged from 1985.

Israel has also requested $800 million in supplemental assistance for the current year, and it is that request that the Administration hopes to use as leverage to induce economic reforms. However, a House subcommittee decided Tuesday to grant the full amount and to add $640 million as a supplement to the aid for 1986.

Shultz repeated that the United States supports direct peace talks between Israel and an Arab delegation including Palestinians, but he conceded that it may prove difficult to find credible Palestinians who are not members of the Palestine Liberation Organization.

Israel refuses to deal with the PLO, which it considers a terrorist organization, but Arab countries consider the PLO to be the only legitimate representative of the Palestinians.

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