Israel, UN hold initial talks on Lebanon handover

JERUSALEM, Aug 14 (Reuters) Israel held initial talks today with representatives of a U N force to begin to lay the groundwork for the transfer of Lebanese territory now under Israeli control, officials said.

An army spokeswoman said the meeting between Israeli military officers and representatives for the U N force, known as UNIFIL, took place in the Israeli coastal community of Rosh Hanikra on the Lebanese border.

''We opened coordination with sources in UNIFIL to start the process of transferring (control of) the territory,'' Israel's Defence Minister Amir Peretz told Israeli lawmakers.

Reuters MQA VV1801