Lebanon warns militants to keep ceasefire pact

Lebanon today warned rogue Palestinian groups against inciting Israel to break the fragile Middle East ceasefire by launching rockets into the Jewish state.

Defence Minister Elias Murr’s threat to take harsh action highlighted concerns that Syrian-backed Palestinian militants might try to restart the fighting by drawing retaliation from Israel.

“We consider that when the resistance (Hezbollah) is committed not to fire rockets, then any rocket that is fired from the Lebanese territory would be considered collaboration with Israel to provide a pretext (for Israel) to strike,” he said.

Last night UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan declared the Israelis in violation of the Security Council ceasefire resolution after Israel conducted a pre-dawn commando raid deep into the Bekaa Valley.

And today there were no reports of fresh incidents as the truce held for a seventh day.

However residents in the mountains east of Beirut reported continued Israeli overflights. The Lebanese army issued a statement accusing Israel of not abiding by the ceasefire because of the airspace violations, which were a prelude to the Bekaa Valley commando raid.

On Saturday, Murr had threatened to stop the deployment of the army in south Lebanon, a key demand of the UN ceasefire resolution, after the Israeli helicopter-borne commando raid near the town of Boudai in the foothills of the Mount Lebanon range on the west side of the Bekaa Valley, a Hezbollah stronghold.

Israel said it launched the raid to intercept Iranian weapons shipments for Hezbollah as they crossed into the country from Syria. One Israeli officer was killed and two soldiers were wounded, one seriously.

Lebanon has started deploying 15,000 soldiers to the south, putting a government force in the region for the first time in four decades, as part of the ceasefire requirements. It was to be joined by an equal force of international peacekeepers, but wrangling among countries expected to send troops has so far delayed assembly of the force.

However Italy tonight announced it would be willing to lead the military peace mission in Lebanon should the UN ask it to.

Piero Fassino, a leader of Premier Romano Prodi’s coalition, said: “In case UN headquarters put forward the request to our country to lead the mission, our country will not refuse, even though it is not seeking it.”

“The Middle East is close to us, and a great nation like Italy cannot shirk its duties,” Fassino said. “You cannot only invoke peace and security, you have to build them.”

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert complicated diplomatic efforts even further tonight when he said his country would not accept the participation of peacekeepers in Lebanon from countries that don’t have diplomatic relations with the Jewish state, officials said.

The announcement, which came shortly before the arrival of UN envoy Terje Roed-Larsen in Israel, was made at a meeting of Olmert’s inner Security Cabinet.

Earlier Olmert said he would name a panel to investigate government and military conduct of the conflict, in the face of criticism that authorities prosecuted a messy war with an unclear outcome and waffled over key decisions.

In Cairo Arab League foreign ministers convened for an emergency meeting to discuss a plan to create an Arab League fund to rebuild Lebanon.

Arabs want to counter the flood of money that is believed to be coming from Iran to Hezbollah to finance reconstruction projects.

An estimated 15,000 apartments were destroyed and 140 bridges hit by Israeli bombardment in Lebanon, along with power and desalination plants and other key infrastructure.

“This is a war over the hearts and minds of the Lebanese, which Arabs should not lose to the Iranians this time,” said a senior Arab League official.