UN warns Lebanon truce may unravel

The United Nations said yesterday the week-old truce between Israel and Hizbollah could easily collapse again into "an abyss of violence and bloodshed" if the UN resolution which engendered it was violated further.

Senior UN envoy Terje Roed-Larsen said the truce provided the Lebanese government with a good chance to extend its authority over the entire country but warned: "We are at the tilting edge still."

"This can easily start sliding again and lead us quickly into the abyss of violence and bloodshed," he told a news conference in Beirut before heading to Israel.

The Norwegian was speaking a day after the UN condemned an Israeli raid on Hizbollah guerillas in eastern Lebanon as a breach of Security Council resolution 1701, which brought the 34-day war between the two sides to an end.

Mr Roed-Larsen said any further, similar raids by the Israelis would only discourage countries from committing troops to a planned UN peacekeeping force in south Lebanon.

"What we have to do now is for all parties concerned to show upmost restraint to produce a situation that is so stable that troop contributors will come forward to hopefully reach the goal of 15,000..." he said.

A 30,000-strong force is envisaged for south Lebanon, made up of Lebanese and UN troops in equal number.

Israel has said its raid in the eastern Bekaa Valley was defensive and designed to disrupt weapons supplies to Hizbollah from Syria and Iran.

It denied it had violated the UN truce resolution, which allows it to act in self-defence.

The Lebanese government vowed to crush any attempt on the Lebanese side of the border to break the truce, saying anyone attacking Israel would be considered a traitor.

"The army will be very tough in dealing with such an issue," Lebanese Defence Minister Elias al-Murr told a news conference.

"Any rocket fired from Lebanon will benefit Israel," he said, suggesting such an incident would provide a pretext for the Jewish state to attack Lebanon.

Israeli reconnaissance planes flew over Lebanon yesterday.

Witnesses and Lebanese security sources said high-altitude flights covered virtually the whole country, from its war-torn south to close to the border with Syria in the north and east.

In Jerusalem, Israel's top general conceded his army had failed to destroy Hizbollah during the war, which claimed 1,183 lives in Lebanon and 157 in Israel.