Special report: Israel-Lebanon Conflicts   [ Video ][Gallery]

                           Lebanon :deploy army to south     

    BEIJING, Aug. 9  -- As the nearly four weeks of fierce fighting between Israeli and Hezbollah shows no signs of letting up, Lebanon's cabinet, which includes two Hezbollah ministers, has decided unanimously to deploy 15,000 troops in south Lebanon as soon as Israel withdrew its troops from the area.

    This will be the first time for the government to deploy forces since Israeli withdrawal from south Lebanon in 2000.

    Information Minister Ghazi Aridi made the announcement after a cabinet session on Monday.

    But Aridi did not explicitly say whether Hezbollah would pull out of border areas it has been controlling since Israeli withdrawal from south Lebanon in 2000.

    Lebanon's Council of Ministers special envoy to the United Nations has briefed UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan on the cabinet's decision.

    Special envoy the Lebanese council of ministers Tarek Mitri said:" There is a unanimity in the country that may not have existed before. But there is a unanimity in the country about giving the Lebanese army a chance to exercise its duty and responsibility. There is great confidence in the army in the country.

    Reporter: "And they'll have the power to stop Hizbollah totally?"

    Arek miter: "That will have the power to provide peace and security

    in the south and of allowing returnees to go safely to their houses."

    Lebanon hopes the unanimous decision of the government would pave the way for changes to a U.N. Security Council resolution to end 27 days of fighting between Israel and Hizbollah.

    Lebanon has said it was unhappy with a US-French draft resolution, demanding that it include a call for the immediate withdrawal of Israel's 10,000 troops from southern Lebanon.

    Leaving a bilateral meeting with France's U.N. ambassador, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. John Bolton said he viewed the Lebanese announcement as a "positive one."

    The UN Security Council delayed action Monday on a U.N. resolution to listen to an Arab foreign ministers' delegation. The delegation has left Beirut for New York to push through the amendments to the resolution that Lebanon wants.

    If a new draft was circulated late on Tuesday, the earliest a vote could take place would be Wednesday, and some diplomats were guessing it would be put off until Thursday.

(Source: CCTV)