Israeli security authorities are reported to be keeping a close watch on southern Lebanon where, according to reports from the region, soldiers ostensibly from the regular Lebanese army are taking up positions not far from the Israeli border.
Fears have been expressed that the government in Beirut may be giving way to Syrian pressure by sending Syrian soldiers close to the Israeli border in the uniforms of Lebanese regular army soldiers. Tension is reported to be high between Major Saad Haddad’s Christian militia forces and the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), with the militia claiming that the UNIFIL troops are allowing Lebanese or Syrian soldiers to move southwards without an adequate check.
If they come as Lebanese troops their presence may be welcomed throughout the world as a sign of the Beirut government’s restoration of its authority in areas held by Haddad, who is regarded in Beirut as a traitor for his cooperation with Israel.
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