By ASSOCIATED PRESS
The UN Security Council on Wednesday adopted a press statement that expressed concern about recent clashes between Israeli troops and Hizbullah guerillas along the border between Lebanon and Israel.
The statement explicitly said that Hizbullah initiated the attacks on Monday, a fact that Hizbullah denied and which the United States claimed as a victory because the council tends to avoid assigning blame in such sensitive cases.
"All of you know how negotiations are conducted on press statements and other UN documents in the Security Council and I just want to underline the importance of saying expressly that it was Hizbullah that initiated the attack," US Ambassador John Bolton said.
The statement addressed an attack Monday that saw Hizbullah open fire on IDF posts on the southern Lebanese border, provoking Israeli air strikes and artillery shelling. Four guerrillas were killed and 11 Israeli soldiers wounded in the fighting.