The deployment of UN peacekeeping troops in southern Lebanon has been indefinitely postponed because of new Israeli encroachments on Lebanese territory, a senior Lebanese official said yesterday.
"Israel made four new violations of the international border overnight . . . which will delay the deployment of UNIFIL, which had been set to begin Wednesday morning," the official said.
The UN Interim Force in Lebanon, UNIFIL, had been given the go-ahead earlier in the day to deploy in the south after the Lebanese government agreed on Monday that Israel no longer violated its border and the UN verified that Israel's withdrawal from Lebanon was complete.
The acting UN spokesman, Mr Daljit Bagga, told The Irish Times that peacekeepers would take up positions in the zone evacuated by Israeli forces two months ago. Irishbatt has been waiting for this day since joining UNIFIL soon after its formation in 1978.
Mr Bagga said the Lebanese authorities had assured the UN that its forces "will not face any problems with Hizbullah or any of the other resistance groups" which took control after the Israelis withdrew.
Mr Annan made his announcement on Monday after his envoy, Mr Terje Larsen, met President Emile Lahoud and the Prime Minister, Dr Selim Hoss, in Beirut. Mr Larsen told them: "UNIFIL is now able to report we have hit a point of zero violations."
UNIFIL is in the process of being expanded from 5,000 to 7,900 peacekeepers. Of the six countries contributing battalions to the force, Ireland, Finland, Nepal and Ghana have sent additional troops, while India and Fiji have agreed to do so.
Two new contributors, Sweden and Ukraine, have dispatched urgently-needed demining experts to clear Israeli fortified compounds and the border zone.
