Lebanon tells UNIFIL to dismantle Israeli spy post

The Lebanese army has asked UNIFIL to dismantle an Israeli spying post erected near an occupied border area, an army spokesman says. The spy post was set up by the Israeli army near Karf Shuba, a village just outside the divided border village of Ghajar. UNIFIL (United Nations Interim Forces in Southern Lebanon) deputy spokesman Andrea Tenenti said that the area in which the post was set up "is not under our mandate,” AFP reported on Tuesday. “But we are trying to address this issue with both parties," he added. The report did not say when the spy post was set up. The UN had demarcated the border between the two countries after Israeli troops were forced to withdraw from southern Lebanon in 2000, ending a 22-year occupation. UN representative to Lebanon Michael Williams said last week that he hoped to see a full Israeli withdrawal from the northern part of Ghajar, which is inhabited mainly by Syrian Alawites. A reinforced UNIFIL was deployed in south Lebanon in 2006 under Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended the 33-day-long Israeli invasion of Lebanon, which resulted in the death of over 1,000 Lebanese civilians.