U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan is "deeply concerned" about Israel's commando raid Saturday in eastern Lebanon, which he said violated the cease-fire resolution concerning Israel and Hezbollah, his spokesman said in a written statement. The statement also cited the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon as saying there have "also been several air violations by Israeli military aircraft." Annan's comments affirmed those by Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, who earlier had condemned the Israeli operation as a violation of the U.N.-brokered cease-fire. A Hezbollah member of the Lebanese Parliament, Hassan Hobballa, called the raid "proof that the Israeli enemy is still carrying on with its aggression ... and that it doesn't care about the resolutions taken by the U.N. Security Council." Lebanese Defense Minister Elias Murr has threatened to halt the deployment of army troops to the country's southern region unless the United Nations can ensure Israeli compliance with Resolution 1701, Murr's adviser told CNN. The adviser said Hezbollah is complying with the agreement. Under the agreement, Israeli troops are to gradually cede control of southern Lebanon -- Hezbollah's former stronghold -- to the U.N. military contingent in Lebanon known as UNIFIL and then to Lebanese army troops.
