UN troops send tanks to Lebanon-Israeli border shootout

MAROUN A-RAS, Lebanon -- UN troops sent tanks and armor yesterday to a tense area along the frontier with Israel to try to determine whether an Israeli bulldozer crossed into Lebanon, sparking the first shootout since last summer's Hezbollah-Israel war.

The brief exchange of fire Wednesday night was the first involving Lebanese troops and the Israelis since the Lebanese army deployed in September to southern Lebanon to work alongside international peacekeepers.

In New York, UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon expressed concern at the shootout and called on all parties to "exercise maximum restraint" so as not to "endanger the fragile calm that prevails in southern Lebanon," UN spokeswoman Michele Montas said.

Lebanese officials said their troops fired on an Israeli army bulldozer that had crossed the border near the village of Maroun a-Ras, the scene of heavy fighting in the summer. The bulldozer crossed the so-called Blue Line -- the UN-demarcated boundary -- and drove about 45 feet into Lebanon, Lebanese military officials said.

Israel said the shooting lasted for a few minutes and maintained its army acted inside its own territory. There were no casualties.

"We have a strong interest in keeping a quiet border, but we will not allow violations of our territorial sovereignty," warned Israeli government spokeswoman Miri Eisin.

President Emile Lahoud of Lebanon lauded the army's action in firing on the Israelis, while Prime Minister Fuad Saniora told UN envoy Geir Pedersen the bulldozer's incursion compounded the daily violations of Lebanese sovereignty by Israeli aircraft flying over the country.

Despite the stern rhetoric, the event was not expected to undermine the cease-fire that has held since Aug. 14.

Still, the UN Interim Force in Lebanon described the clash as a "serious incident" and sent two French Leclerc battle tanks and at least four armored personnel carriers to the area outside Maroun a-Ras.

More armored vehicles patrolled a dirt road next to the Israeli border fence, leaving a trail of mud through a lush green valley. A UN helicopter flew overhead.

"Our people deployed . . . so that everybody can see peacekeepers are taking care of the area," Lieutenant Colonel Michael Busching, a German naval officer with the interim force's military Public Information Office, told the Associated Press at the scene.

Liam McDowell, a spokesman for the interim force , said the exchange was "initiated by the Lebanese army" and that the Israeli bulldozer had crossed the "technical fence" to clear mines.

Crossing the technical fence would not violate the border, but crossing the Blue Line would. The UN drew up the line when Israeli forces ended their 18-year occupation of a slice of southern Lebanon in 2000.

McDowell said the interim force was assessing whether Israeli troops had crossed the Blue Line.

Israel said its troops went through the fence to search for explosives allegedly planted by Hezbollah on Monday, but that Israeli forces remained south of the international border and within Israeli territory -- which stretches beyond the fence.

Hezbollah has denied planting explosives, saying they were laid before the war.

The Lebanese army said yesterday that the bulldozer was backed by tanks and armored carriers, with Israeli helicopters flying overhead, as it moved soil to clear terrain "under the pretext of removing explosives."

It said the Israelis responded, firing on a Lebanese army position but causing no casualties.