A meeting, among Israel, Lebanese army and the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) on the withdrawal of Israeli troops from south Lebanon, ended in disagreement Tuesday evening, Israeli Ynet news reported on its website edition.

The disagreement came as there is still uncertainty about the schedule of a complete Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon, though the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) had initially planned to pull out its remaining several hundred troops by the end of the week, said the report.

"The talks didn't fall apart, but there are still some disagreements regarding coordination and the authorities that should be exercised by the UNIFIL and the Lebanese army," an Israeli army official was quoted as saying.

A source from the Israeli army said that the meeting, which took place at the UNIFIL headquarters in the Lebanese town of Naqoura was a "failure" and that the IDF threatened to keep its soldiers inside Lebanon for as long as it took for the UNIFIL to take its job seriously.

Earlier on Tuesday, the UNIFIL commander Maj. Gen. Alain Pellegrini said in a statement after meeting senior Israeli and Lebanese army officers that the Israeli troops would be out of Lebanon by the end of September.

Israel occupied a narrow border land in south Lebanon during the 34-day-long Israel-Hezbollah conflict.

A senior military source said Monday night that Israel had so far handed over around 90 percent of the territory they captured to the UNIFIL and the Lebanese Army.

Several hundred IDF soldiers, the officer said, were still present inside Lebanon although only several hundred meters away from the Blue Line, the United Nations-demarcated border between Lebanon and Israel.

Israel-Hezbollah conflict ended on Aug. 14 under UN Resolution 1701, which called for Israel's withdrawal and authorized the expansion of the UN force in Lebanon to 15,000 to help Lebanese government take control of its southern territory which borders Israel.

Under the deal, Israel should transfer control of its positions in southern Lebanon to the UN force, which will then hand them over to the Lebanese army.

(Xinhua News Agency September 27, 2006)
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