United Nations - UN troops will move into areas vacated by Israeli forces in southern Lebanon while the Lebanese government reasserts its authority there, the secretary-general, Mr Kofi Annan, said yesterday. "Once the situation is settled and Lebanon has assumed its full territorial responsibility, the peacekeepers will withdraw," Mr Annan said.
He said he had not replied to a letter from the Israeli Prime Minister, Mr Barak, which said the UN should play a part in protecting Israel from possible guerrilla attack.
Mr Annan said units of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) would move southwards towards the Israeli frontier "as quickly as possible" but he was "not in a position" to give a timeframe. He said UN officials had conferred yesterday with the countries which had provided the 4,513 troops in the force "to stress the urgency" of redeploying into the zone previously held by Israel and its allies.
