Target of war probe, Israeli general quits

JERUSALEM -- The chief of Israel's armed forces has tendered his resignation after internal investigations pointed to his responsibility for the setbacks of last year's Lebanon war, a military spokeswoman said today.

She said Lieutenant-General Dan Halutz, 58, told Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defense Minister Amir Peretz that he was quitting "as the investigations have run their course."

"With the echoes of battle having faded, I have decided to act on my responsibility," the spokeswoman quoted Halutz as saying in his resignation letter.

The July-August assault on Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas drove them from Israel's northern border but failed to retrieve two captive soldiers, prompting many Israelis to call for a purge of the top brass in hope of restoring a military edge.

A former Israeli chief of staff, Dan Shomron, recently handed in the findings of a probe he conducted into the war's execution.

Shomron's report, released in part last month, criticized Israeli military commanders for poor organization during the war but stopped short of calling for Halutz's resignation.

At the time, Halutz said he was staying on.