Popular and official stances were voiced calling on the international
community to pressure Israel to withdraw its troops from Lebanon, close the
Israeli-run Khiam prison and free all Lebanese detainees.

A number of sit-ins and activities were held in Lebanon yesterday in
commemoration of the World Day for the Closure of the Khiam Detention Camp.
Hundreds of mothers of Lebanese detainees converged in front of the UN House
in downtown Beirut holding a one-day hunger strike.

The parliamentary committee of foreign affairs called on the Lebanese
government to follow up the work of the international committee in
investigating the situation of Lebanese detainees in Israeli jails. The
committee stressed the importance of contacting all Lebanese communities and
diplomatic delegations abroad calling on them to spread calls for the
liberation of Lebanese detainees.

For his part, Prime Minister Salim Al-Hoss stressed the government is
following up the case of Lebanese detainees held in Khiam and other Israeli
jails. Hoss reiterated the government's promise to exert all possible
efforts to put an end to the suffering of Lebanese residents of the occupied
zone by pushing for an Israeli withdrawal from the South without conditions.