Lebanese Army Seen Collaborating with Hizbullah
Israel's Defense Ministry is hoping that the UN will issue new rules of engagement for UNIFIL that will enable the peacekeeping force to search Lebanese villages without prior coordination with the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF). A senior defense official said Sunday that there have been several cases when UNIFIL knew of Hizbullah caches in villages and coordinated operations with the LAF. However, when the peacekeeping force arrived at the suspected building it was empty. "We suspect that the LAF is infiltrated by Shi'ite elements who leak intelligence information to Hizbullah before operations," the official said. "If UNIFIL were able to act on intelligence immediately and without coordination, it would dramatically improve the force's effectiveness."