Irish troops will take part in the National Spanish Day parade through the streets of Madrid today.

A car bomb explosion killed six UN peacekeepers patrolling a southern Lebanon road in an attack that could have serious repercussions beyond Lebanon’s borders.

FIVE Spanish UN peacekeepers were killed yesterday and at least three wounded in an explosion targeting UN troops in southern Lebanon, a senior Lebanese security official said.

A car bomb explosion killed six UN peacekeepers patrolling a southern Lebanon road today in an attack that could have serious repercussions beyond Lebanon’s borders.

Four Spanish UN peacekeepers were killed today and four others wounded in an explosion targeting UN troops in southern Lebanon.

Hundreds of thousands of people packed Beirut’s bombed-out suburbs for a Hezbollah “victory over Israel” rally today, where guerrilla leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah was expected to deliver a historic speech about his group’s weapons.

Italian soldiers began arriving today in Lebanon, part of the first large contingent of international troops dispatched to boost the UN peacekeeping force here since a truce between Israel and Hezbollah guerrillas was agreed three weeks ago.

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan today called on Israel to end its air and sea blockade of Lebanon and appealed for the quick release of two Israeli soldiers captured by Hezbollah guerrillas.

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan visited UN peacekeepers in south Lebanon today, a day after Italy and Turkey moved to join the international force there.

Hezbollah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah said he would not have ordered the capture of two Israeli soldiers if he had known it would lead to the Lebanon war.

Syria opposes the deployment of an international force along its border to prevent arms shipments to Hezbollah, and Israel is calling the situation in Lebanon “explosive”.

Lebanese, Israeli and UN officers have met on the border to discuss the withdrawal of Israeli forces from southern Lebanon and the deployment of the Lebanese army in the war-ravaged region, a UN spokesman said.

United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan said in a statement today that a ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel would take effect tomorrow morning and urged an immediate halt to the fighting.

The United Nations has decided to remove unarmed observers from their posts along the Israeli-Lebanese border, moving them in with the peacekeeping force in the area, a spokesman said today.

ISRAELI forces yesterday withdrew from five villages in southern Lebanon and UN troops set up new checkpoints as Lebanese troops rolled into the area.

An Irish army officer was among three UN observers and two armed peacekeepers assaulted by Hezbollah gunmen in southern Lebanon yesterday, UN officials said.

Irish peacekeepers today celebrated their last St Patrick’s Day in south Lebanon, where they had been stationed for more than two decades.