Israel seeks engagement rules before Lebanon exit

Jerusalem, Sep 26: Israel and an international peacekeeping force have yet to agree on rules of engagement in south Lebanon that would enable Israeli troops to complete a planned pullout, Defence Minister Amir Peretz said today.

''I hope very much that during the coming week, at the most a few more days, we will complete the withdrawal,'' Peretz told reporters.

''There are arrangements, negotiations (and) deliberations which we intend to complete in order to set the rules -- what is permitted and what is forbidden -- from the moment we're sitting on the blue line (the international border),'' he said.

''Therefore anything we attain in the coming days will influence the future of (northern Israel) significantly.''

Reuters