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The United Nations plans to deploy a 3 500-member force in southern Lebanon within 15 days as Israel began withdrawing its soldiers after a cease-fire halted more than a month of fighting with the Hezbollah group.

The peacekeepers will “consolidate'' the truce that began two days ago and will form the first unit of a 15 000-strong contingent, UN Assistant Secretary General Hedi Annabi said yesterday in New York.

The Lebanese army may send a symbolic unit of soldiers into southern Lebanon today, the Israeli daily newspaper Haaretz reported, citing unidentified officials in Beirut. Israel is considering a formal handover of control of towns in the region to the army as early as today, an Israeli government official said on condition of anonymity.

The United Nations Security Council unanimously approved a resolution Aug. 11 that demands an end to hostilities and calls for the withdrawal of Israeli troops after UN and Lebanese forces are deployed in southern Lebanon. The intent is to create a security zone free of Hezbollah weapons from the border with Israel to the Litani River, which lies, in some places, as much as 30 kilometers (19 miles) to the north.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert ordered troops to penetrate southern Lebanon as far as the Litani. Military officials declined to say how far they advanced before the cease- fire began. Soldiers, who began leaving southern Lebanon yesterday, continued to withdraw today, said an Israeli military spokesman, who declined to be identified by army regulations. He had no information on Lebanese troops being deployed in the area.

Lebanon's government plans to send 15 000 soldiers into the southern region.

The UN would welcome France making a significant contribution to the peacekeeping mission and becoming the “backbone of the force,'' Annabi said in New York.

France's Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy traveled to Lebanon yesterday to discuss a possible deployment, according to Axel Cruau, spokesman for the French mission to the UN. Francehasn't made a decision to commit troops, Cruau said.

France administered Lebanon under a League of Nations mandate from 1920 to 1943.

The UN hasn't received any firm commitments, although 45 nations have expressed interest in the mission, including France, Germany, Greece and Turkey.

Israeli forces killed the commander of Hezbollah's special forces, Sajed Dawayer, a few hours before the cease-fire took effect, the Israeli army said today. Hezbollah lawmaker Nawwar al-Sahili denied the report.

Lieutenant General Dan Halutz, Israel's military chief of staff, under fire for the prosecution of the war and for the revelation he sold his investment portfolio hours before hostilities started on July 12, appears today before the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee. The military expects Halutz will have to resign, the daily Ma'ariv reported today.

The conflict, which began after Hezbollah abducted two Israeli soldiers in a cross-border attack, left about 880 Lebanese dead and about 200 missing, Lebanon's police and government said. Olmert said 159 Israelis were killed. It cost the Israeli economy at least $1,6-billion, according to Finance Minister Avraham Hirschson, and Lebanon's economy around $4-billion, according to government estimates.

The Lebanese government estimates 1 million people were displaced from their homes by the fighting in the south. Israelis fled from towns in the north to escape Hezbollah rocket attacks.

Hundreds of thousands of Israeli and Lebanese civilians are now heading back home, ignoring the advice of Lebanese and Israeli government officials not to go because of the danger of unexploded bombs and the lack of electricity and running water.

Lebanon's government and Hezbollah are discussing the Shiite Muslim group giving up its arms, Hussein Hajj Hassan, who represents Hezbollah in the Lebanese Parliament, said in an interview yesterday.

Hezbollah's disarmament is “part of a national dialogue that is taking place right now,'' Hassan said. The talks are “serious and positive,'' he said.

Hezbollah, which the US and Israel designate as a terrorist organization, controls forces independent of Lebanon's army. The group has 14 seats in Lebanon's 128-member Parliament and two members in the Cabinet. While participating in politics, Hezbollah has defied UN resolution 1559, which calls for the disarming and disbanding of militias in Lebanon.

Lebanese soldiers won't disarm Hezbollah by force, Mohammad Chatah, an adviser to Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, said in an interview two days ago in Beirut.

In the Gaza Strip, Israeli aircraft bombed a house in Khan Younis overnight that the army said was used by Palestinians to manufacture and store weapons. People were warned to leave, the army said. A military spokesman couldn't say whether anyone was killed on injured in the incident.

Israeli artillery fired at the Gaza Strip early today after a Qassam rocket fell in Israel, the army said.

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