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UN Chief: Deployment of UN Force in Lebanon Could Take Months


U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan says deployment of a full U.N. peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon could take weeks or months.

Mr. Annan told Israeli television Tuesday the international community is trying to organize the force as quickly as possible.

In Washington, a U.S. State Department spokesman, Sean McCormack said deploying the force in months is not acceptable. He said the process needs to be done more urgently than that.

Lebanese officials say their soldiers and international peacekeepers will begin deploying in the southern part of the country within days.

The Israeli army has been withdrawing from Lebanon as the ceasefire with Hezbollah guerrillas is generally holding.

Meanwhile, the Israeli army says its troops killed a senior Hezbollah commander, Sajed Dewayer just before the ceasefire took effect Monday morning.

The Israeli army also said Tuesday its forces in southern Lebanon killed at least three Hezbollah fighters in two separate incidents.

In other news, thousands of displaced Lebanese jammed bomb-damaged roads to return to their homes. And in northern Israel, residents emerged from bomb shelters for the first time in weeks. The region was hit by thousands of Hezbollah rockets during the conflict.
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