Lebanon, U.N. Finish Verifying Israel's Border Violation

A joint team of Lebanon and the United Nations Thursday finished their work of verifying Israel's border violation, local media reported.

An officer of United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), requesting anonymity, said each side has submitted a report to their respective authorities, but he refused to give more detail of the report, local radio reported.

Local press Thursday credited U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan with "wresting a pledge" from Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak to end encroachments on the Lebanese border in 36 hours.

Annan's loudly trumpeted feat coincided with a formal Lebanese notice to the command of the U.N. peace-keeping force that it should not deploy in the Israeli-vacated zone in south Lebanon before all border violations are terminated.

Annan vowed during his meeting with Lebanese leaders that the U.N. will "deal with the border violations seriously" and mention it when he met with Barak.

Lebanon accuses Israel of still occupying 16 points of its border.

Lebanon is also dissatisfied with the "blue line" (the U.N.-marked line of the Israeli withdrawal), saying it does not accord with the international recognized border between Lebanon and Israel.

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