Israel to conduct investigation of Lebanon war

JERUSALEM, Aug 14 (Reuters) Israeli Defence Minister Amir Peretz pledged today to name a team to conduct a ''wide and thorough'' investigation of the Lebanon war and voiced hope for eventual negotiations with the Lebanese government.

Peretz was speaking to lawmakers from his centre-left Labour party hours after a ceasefire took effect between the Israeli army and Lebanese Hizbollah guerrillas, and shortly before Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was due to address parliament.

The Israeli government has faced mounting criticism for its handling of the month-long war as well as calls for an official inquiry.

''I plan to fulfill my part to create a team that will conduct a wide and throrough investigation of all incidents before and during (the war),'' Peretz said.

He said the UN-brokered ceasefire was holding except for a few isolated incidents and predicted the crisis would weaken extremist forces and strengthen moderates in the West Asia.

''I hope this process will also open the way to a negotiation on the northern border with the Lebanese government and also renew dialogue with the Palestinians,'' Peretz said.

The Lebanese government has promised to deploy 15,000 troops alongside an equal number of UN peacekeepers to take over territory and enforce the truce as Israeli forces leave south Lebanon.

Olmert has in the past expressed a willingness to talk to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas but considers him powerless to act while the militant group Hamas controls the parliament. Israel refuses all contacts with the Hamas-led cabinet.

An Israeli offensive in Gaza to recover a captured soldier and stop Palestinians firing rockets had been overshadowed by the war with Hizbollah, sparked by the guerrillas' abduction of two Israeli soldiers in a July 12 cross-border raid.

REUTERS MQA KN1801