By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
UN envoy Terje Roed-Larsen on Sunday praised the deployment of the Lebanese army on the country's border with Israel and said the UN was seeking "a diplomatic solution" concerning Hizbullah's weapons smuggling.
Roed-Larsen said 2,000 Lebanese soldiers have been deployed so far along Lebanon's eastern border near Syria with the goal of eventually having 8,600 along the border. Some 1,000 Lebanese soldiers also have been deployed along Lebanon's coastline, he said.
Roed-Larsen called Israel's commando operation in Baalbek on Saturday "unhelpful", saying "such incidents will discourage deployments in the south" by countries wanting to contribute troops to the peacekeeping force.