Israeli apology for border shooting

The verification process has been delayed by differences

Israel has apologised to the United Nations after an incident in which Israeli soldiers fired warning shots over the heads of peacekeepers working to verify Israel's withdrawal from Lebanon.

The Israelis fired into the air when the UN team tried to lift barbed wire to enter the border village of Abassiyeh.

The verification work was immediately suspended, but the spokesman for the peacekeepers, Timor Goksel, said he hoped it would resume on Friday, after Israel gave assurances that the incident would not be repeated.

Lebanon has meanwhile announced the formation of its own force to patrol its southern border region, following the departure of the Israelis.

Delays

The UN team was to have completed work on the border on Thursday, allowing UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan to declare that Israeli troops had pulled back to international borders.

People in Ghadar protest over the village's future

The team was to have moved on from Abassiyeh to the village of Ghajar, on the border between Lebanon and the Golan Heights area, which Israel captured from Syria in 1967.

People living there have been protesting over fears that the village may eventually be split between Lebanon and Syria.

Once the withdrawal has been confirmed, the 4,500-member United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (Unifil) is expected to be strengthened to enable it to help restore Beirut's authority over the area.

The Lebanese Government announced on Thursday the formation of a joint force of 500 soldiers and 500 police to be deployed in the border area.

Official sources told Reuters news agency the force would be deployed once the Israeli withdrawal had been confirmed.

Correspondents say the verification process has been delayed by differences, mainly between the UN and Lebanon, which has disputed the border in several places.

Iranian- and Syrian-backed Hezbollah guerrillas, whose attacks on Israeli troops were decisive in persuading Israel to end it occupation of south Lebanon, hold sway over much of the area in the absence of a strong Lebanese Government presence.