UNITED NATIONS, Aug. 31 (UPI) -- With a U.N. force having its mandate in Lebanon extended for another year, the U.N. special envoy to Lebanon said security was relatively normal.
The U.N. Security Council, in a unanimous vote, extended the mandate for the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon for one year. In its decision, the council called on Israel and Lebanon to respect the U.N.-demarcated Blue Line separating both countries.
Israeli and Lebanese forces exchanged fire near the border Aug. 3, leaving four people dead. Lebanese forces said Israeli troops strayed over the border, though UNIFIL confirmed the Israeli military was operating on its side of the border.
Michael Williams, the U.N. special envoy to Lebanon, said during meetings with Lebanese officials in Beirut that all sides needed to work to make sure the security situation didn't deteriorate.
"But I believe at the moment we have returned to relative normality," the U.N. news agency quoted him as saying.
U.S. officials worried the border incident was a sign that Hezbollah was connected to Lebanese military operations.
The Security Council in its statement on the UNIFIL mandate said that Hezbollah "increasingly impeded UNIFIL's freedom of movement."
