U.N., Hezbollah discuss political tensions

BEIRUT, Lebanon, Dec. 14 (UPI) -- Stability in southern Lebanon has been restored along a U.N. demarcated border with Israel, a top U.N. official said after meeting a Hezbollah leader.

Michael Williams, the U.N. special envoy to Lebanon, met with Hezbollah's International Affairs Minister Ammar Moussawi on the effort to ease tensions in Lebanon.

"We spoke first of all about Security Council Resolution 1701 and agreed that stability has been restored in south Lebanon and along the Blue Line," the envoy said in a statement.

Resolution 1701 secured a cease-fire to a 2006 war between Hezbollah and Israel. The measure calls on Hezbollah to disarm while reminding Israel of its obligation to respect Lebanon's sovereignty.

The commander of the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon said in November that Israeli military leaders agreed "in principle" to the mission's proposal to facilitate the withdrawal of the Israeli military from northern Ghajar.

Israel under Resolution 1701 is obligated to abandon its Lebanese positions. The United Nations drew the so-called Blue Line through Ghajar, leaving parts of the village split between the countries.

Williams added that he spoke of Lebanon's political tensions with the Hezbollah official, saying Beirut could rely on its neighbors to address "difficult questions."

Lebanon is bracing for indictments from a special tribunal probing the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Hezbollah is widely expected to be named in a pending indictment, though the Shiite movement said it has evidence to link Israel to the plot.