Israel pullout to stop if Lebanon army does not deploy

JERUSALEM, Aug 16 (Reuters) Israel could withdraw its forces from southern Lebanon within 10 days, but only if the Lebanese army deploys quickly in the area, Israel's army chief of staff, Dan Halutz, today said.

''The withdrawal of the IDF (Israel Defence Forces) within 10 days is dependent upon the deployment of the Lebanese army,'' Halutz told parliament's Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee, according to a spokesman.

''If the Lebanese army does not move down within a number of days to the south ... the way I see it, we must stop our withdrawal,'' Halutz added.

Lebanon's cabinet will meet today to issue an order to the army to deploy in south Lebanon immediately, a senior political source in Beirut said.

The source said the 15,000-strong force will begin to deploy south of the Litani River tomorrow.

Halutz, who was speaking before news of the Lebanese cabinet meeting, had been quoted earlier as saying Israel was prepared to keep troops in southern Lebanon for months if it takes that long for an international force to deploy.

But his deputy, asked on Army Radio to clarify Israel's withdrawal timetable, said Israeli soldiers would likely be out of Lebanon within weeks.

The United Nations said yesterday it wants to deploy up to 3,500 new soldiers within two weeks to oversee a fragile truce and Israel's withdrawal from southern Lebanon, where troops battled Hizbollah guerrillas for a month.

The U.N. Security Council last Friday unanimously adopted a resolution calling for a truce. It authorised up to 13,000 well-armed troops to augment a 2,000-strong force, known as UNIFIL, now in Lebanon.

Halutz said yesterday that Israeli forces, estimated to number under 30,000, could complete their withdrawal within 7 to 10 days.

The truce began early Monday and has largely held. At least 1,110 people in Lebanon and 157 Israelis died in the war that began after Hizbollah seized two Israeli soldiers in a cross-border raid on July 12.

Halutz did not rule out a further breakout of violence.

''We must check matters one by one and correct them quickly. I do not rule out the possibility that the situation could explode and we as an army must be ready,'' he said, according to the committee spokesman.

Reuters MQA DB1839