Refugees start to return as fragile ceasefire holds

A fragile ceasefire in southern Lebanon appears to be holding  today ahead of the arrival of an international peacekeeping force to take control.

At least one Hizbullah fighter was killed by Israeli soldiers shortly after the UN-brokered truce between Israel and Hizbullah came into effect at 6am (Irish time). The Israeli Army said its soldiers fired because they felt threatened.

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said he was relieved that the cessation of hostilities "appears to be generally holding". Mr Annan urged the sides to consolidate the halt to hostilities and move swiftly to convert it to a lasting ceasefire.

The White House said disarming Hizbullah would probably require border security arrangements in Lebanon to block arms supplies to the group from its allies, Iran and Syria.

The Lebanese President Emile Lahoud said he would welcome the deployment of Irish troops as part of any UN peacekeeping force. Following five weeks of fighting an internationals force will now be prepared to be deployed on the ground in southern Lebanon.

"We hope that the Irish can come into it," said Mr Lahoud. "Because I have very good experience with them when I was commander of the army. "And because Ireland would be neutral."

Mr Lamoud also reiterated his backing for Hizbullah describing them as the "national resistance" on RTE Radio this afternoon.

"I still salute Hizbullah," he declared, when asked about the Israeli civilian casualties. "If it weren't for Hizbullah, believe me, they would be here, in the Presidential palace. Like they did in '82.

There are no immediate plans to send Irish troops to Lebanon as part of an international peacekeeping force, according to the Department of Defence.

Under the UN Security Council resolution adopted on Friday, Israeli forces must start to withdraw as foreign peacekeepers and Lebanese soldiers deploy in the south. Hizbullah must also pull its fighters out of southern Lebanon. The resolution calls for a ban on arms supplies to groups in Lebanon, but does not say how it should be enforced.

Despite the ceasefire, the Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Israel will keep pursuing Hizbullah leaders "everywhere and anytime" and reserved the right to respond to any truce violations.

"The leaders of this terrorist organisation have gone underground," Mr Olmert told the Israeli parliament in an address broadcast live on state television today. "They will not get off free. We will continue to pursue them everywhere and anytime."

Mr Olmert acknowledged "shortcomings" in the conduct of the war and said he bore full responsibility. He also lashed out at critics for "snipping" at the government but said, "We do not intend to apologise."

Israeli Defence Minister Amir Peretz said the truce appeared to be holding apart from isolated incidents, and pledged to name a team to conduct a "wide and thorough" investigation of the war.

Thousands of Israeli troops remain in southern Lebanon, and they are not expected to withdraw fully until an international peacekeeping force arrives.

Security sources in south Lebanon said Israeli air strikes and artillery fire continued until just a few minutes before the truce took effect. Israel said it would not lift its air and sea blockade of Lebanon yet.

There were no reports of any Hizbullah rockets being fired at Israel since the truce took hold. Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said on Saturday that his forces would observe the truce but reserved the right to resist Israeli forces still in Lebanon.

An Israeli air strike on a van on the outskirts of the eastern city of Baalbek killed seven people minutes before the truce began, Lebanese sources said. Security sources said the van was transporting policemen, soldiers and civilians.

Air strikes on a village near Lebanon's eastern border with Syria killed at least nine civilians, medics said. A policeman died in another strike in the area, and one person was killed in a raid on a Palestinian refugee camp, security sources said.

Tens of thousands of Lebanese displaced by five weeks of fighting are heading south towards their homes, choking bomb-damaged roads with their cars in spite of a warning from Israel not to return to the area. Drivers honked their horns in celebration.

Aid groups said they needed swift access to southern Lebanon to help 100,000 people stranded in the area south of the Litani river, which has not been reached by aid convoys for a week.

"With the ceasefire in place, there can no longer be any no-go areas in Lebanon," David Shearer, the UN humanitarian coordinator in Lebanon, said in a statement.

Around 1,100 people in Lebanon, mostly civilians, and 156 Israelis, including 116 soldiers, have been killed in the most recent fighting, triggered when Hizbullah captured two Israeli soldiers in a cross-border raid on July 12th.

Additional reporting Agencies