Israel quits two more Lebanese border points: UN

[stu]

BEIRUT (AFP) - Israeli forces, originally due to be out of south Lebanon by Friday, have withrdawn from two more border points and should have pulled out completely by the end of the month, the head of the UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon said.

 

The Israeli army "started to withdraw from two areas along the Blue Line," the UN-drawn border between the two neighboring countries, French Major General Alain Pelligrini, the head of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) said Friday.

 

On Wednesday, Israel announced it was delaying completion of its promised withdrawal until after the Jewish new year holiday which ends Sunday evening.

 

Army chief of staff Dan Halutz said that problems, which he did not specify, were holding up withdrawal but he hoped these would be resolved in the two or three days after the holiday.

 

Pellegrini said the Israeli army on Friday pulled out of an "area south of (the Lebanese coastal town of) Naqura, and the general area of Mays al-Jabal," a Lebanese village in the central border zone.

 

"The UNIFIL Indian and Ghanian battalions are to set up checkpoints and conduct patrols today in order to confirm" the Israeli pullout and coordinate the deployment of Lebanese troops in the area on Saturday, he said.

 

"I welcomed the continued withdrawal of the (Israeli army) from south Lebanon, they have vacated most of the territory in the south," he said.

 

"I expect the rest of the IDF troops to finalize their withdrawal by the end of the month," he said.

 

"We are almost there, and with the assistance of UNIFIL, Lebanese armed forces will very soon be able to take control of the whole south Lebanon including the areas along the Blue Line," he said.

 

Lebanese Defence Minister Elias Murr warned that Lebanon will resort to the UN Security Council if Israel does not complete its troop pullout by next Friday.

 

It is now well over a month after UN Security Council Resolution 1701 came into force on August 14, establishing a ceasefire between Israel and Shiite militants following their devastating 34-day war.

 

Israel's delayed pullout casts a shadow over Hezbollah celebrations of a "divine victory", being marked with a massive rally in the Shiite southern suburbs of Beirut on Friday.