United Nations peacekeeping forces have
moved into four more areas in south Lebanon
after getting Lebanese permission to take up
position in the former Israeli-occupied zone.
Hezbollah guerrillas blocked their entry into one
area, Rmaiysh in the western section, only
allowing the troops to pass after high-level
intervention.
The fighters said they
had not received
orders from
headquarters in Beirut
to let the
peacekeepers through.
The Lebanese
government's
co-ordinator with the
UN Interim Force in
Lebanon, General
Maher Tufaili, and the
deputy UNIFIL
commander, James Sreenan, flew to Rmaiysh
by helicopter to defuse the situation.
Co-operation pledge
In the other areas, while Hezbollah looked on,
units from Nepal, India, Ireland, Sweden and
Finland raised blue UN flags.
Troops declared UN
control - banning
people from
approaching.
Fifty peacekeepers in
five white armoured
vehicles, accompanied by a bulldozer, moved
into position on the border just across from the
Israeli town of Metulla.
They blocked access to the road and declared
the area under UN control, banning people from
approaching.
Hezbollah guerillas took control in the former
occupied zone when the Israeli soldiers left in
May after 22 years.
But guerrilla leaders have pledged to
co-operate with the Lebanese Government and
peacekeepers of the United Nations Interim
Force in Lebanon.
About 5,000 Unifil peacekeepers stationed in
areas further north are waiting to move to the
border region.