South Lebanon incidents increase risk of conflict: UN

BEIRUT, Oct 30, 2009 (AFP) - The rising number of security breaches in southern Lebanon increases the risk of renewed conflict in the area, a UN official said on Friday.

"For three years now, south Lebanon has witnessed its longest period of calm in decades," UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon Michael Williams said after meeting Hezbollah international relations chief Ammar Mussawi.

He was referring to the end of a devastating 2006 war in Lebanon between Israel and the Shiite militant group Hezbollah, which largely controls Lebanon's south.

"However, there is concern that recent incidents could easily destabilize the situation in the area and increase the threat of potential conflict," Williams added.

A rocket was fired from the border village of Hula in southern Lebanon on Israel on Tuesday night, prompting a barrage of retaliatory Israeli fire. No casualties or injuries were reported on either side.

A group linked to Al-Qaeda claimed responsibility for the attack, according to a statement released on Thursday by Al-Fajr Media Centre, said SITE Intelligence, a US monitoring group.

The Lebanese army found and dismantled four more rockets primed and ready to be fired from Hula earlier this week.

And three Israeli spy devices were blown up earlier this month in Hula, two detonated remotely by the Israeli army and one destroyed by the Lebanese army.

On September 11, at least two rockets fired from the southern village of Al-Qlaileh hit Israel without causing casualties but triggered artillery fire.

In February, Israeli artillery bombarded Al-Qlaileh in response to a rocket attack which lightly wounded several Israelis.

In January, during Israel's assault on the Gaza Strip, four rockets fired from Lebanon hit northern Israel, wounding two women.

And in July, the UN said a series of explosions of ammunition stored in an abandoned house in the southern village of Khirbet Slim marked a serious violation of Resolution 1701.

The resolution which brought an end to the 2006 war calls for the removal of weapons in south Lebanon from the hands of fighters except the Lebanese army and other state security forces.