Lebanese Army Demands Removal of Israeli Observation Post
The Lebanese army on Tuesday demanded the removal of an Israeli observation post set up near a disputed border area, an army spokesman said.
"The military asked the UN peacekeeping force deployed in south Lebanon (UNIFIL) to remove the Israeli post set up near Kafr Shouba," a village just outside the divided border village of Ghajar, he said.
"The area in which the post was set up is not under our mandate, but we are trying to address this issue with both parties," UNIFIL deputy spokesman Andrea Tenenti told AFP.
The U.N. delineated a border between the two countries after Israeli troops withdrew from southern Lebanon in 2000, ending a 22-year occupation.
U.N. representative to Lebanon Michael Williams last week said he hoped to see a full Israeli withdrawal from the northern part of Ghajar, which is inhabited mainly by Syrian Alawites.
A reinforced UNIFIL was deployed in south Lebanon in 2006 under Security Council Resolution 1701, which halted the devastating month-long summer war between Israel and Hizbullah.