Cairo backs Lebanon over Israeli withdrawal

There's been support from Egypt for Beirut's demand that Israel should abandon the remote Shebaa farms area when it withdraws its forces from Lebanon.

The backing came in a statement after a meeting of a joint Lebanese-Egyptian committee.

Israel, which plans to pull out of the zone it occupies in southern Lebanon by early July, maintains the Shebaa farms area is not Lebanese and was taken from Syria in 1967.

In another development, Lebanon's Interior Minister, Michel Murr, has said that Beirut's main presence in the south once the Israelis go will be the police and administrative officers.

Meanwhile, Israeli planes have again raided suspected guerrilla positions in southern Lebanon. There were no immediate reports of casualties.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service