BEIRUT, Oct. 5 (Xinhua) -- Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora said Thursday that Lebanese Army has clear instructions to seize any weapons found in the South.

    "We reiterate our respect for all those who struggled and fought in the South, but there will be no weapons in the South apart from the army's," he said in a press conference here on compensation plans for war-stricken citizens outside Beirut's southern suburbs.

    Asked if efforts to empower the army in the South were aimed at disarming Hezbollah, the prime minister said: "We want to strengthen the army and train the soldiers according to modern standards, but the army will not be in confrontation with the resistance (Hezbollah)."

    Hezbollah have kept their weapons out of sight but have refused to disarm since a UN ceasefire resolution which ended the month-long Israel-Hezbollah conflict on Aug. 14.

    Lebanese troops began on early Monday their deployment in nearly all villages, one day after Israel's near-complete withdrawal of several hundred soldiers who had remained in south Lebanon after the Aug. 14 ceasefire.

    The Israeli withdrawal ended a nearly three-month troop incursion into Lebanon in pursuit of Hezbollah fighters who had fired rockets on Israel.

    The premier also said at the press conference that he had not received any official request from U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who is currently touring the Middle East, to visit Lebanon.

    Regarding compensation plans, Siniora said that 10 percent of aid to Lebanon has been handed over to the Lebanese Higher Relief Committee and 90 percent to civil institutions. But He did not specify which aid money had been distributed.

    The government has come under fire recently from donor NGOs and countries for not having established a clear and concrete plan for financial allocation. Enditem