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

    JERUSALEM, Sept. 26 (Xinhua) -- Israeli Defense Minister Amir Peretz said on Tuesday that a withdrawal of Israeli troops from Lebanon is being delayed as agreement has yet to be reached in the United Nations on regulations for opening fire.

    Peretz told the Knesset (parliament) Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee that Israeli soldiers will withdraw at the end of the week or the beginning of next week.

    "We hope the last soldier would leave Lebanon by the start of next week," he said, quoted by Army Radio.

    Earlier, a spokeswoman for Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said that it will take some time for Israel to coordinate with new and old forces of the UN in Lebanon.

    Israeli officials have voiced satisfaction with deployment of UN and Lebanese forces in the area as outlined in a ceasefire arrangement that ended the 34-day conflicts between Israel and Lebanese Hezbollah.

    Israel hopes that UN troops in Lebanon and Lebanese forces would "deter Hezbollah from doing anything."

    The Israeli army has transferred control of 90 percent of the territory it held in southern Lebanon to UN troops and the Lebanese army, a senior military source said Monday night.

    The source said that several hundred Israeli soldiers were still present inside Lebanon although only several hundred meters from the Blue Line.

    The Israeli Air Force will continue its surveillance over Lebanon even after withdrawal until UN Security Council Resolution 1701 is fully implemented, according to local reports. Enditem