DATE=5/21/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=ISRAEL-LEBANON (L-O)
NUMBER=2-262621
BYLINE=SUSAN SAPPIR
DATELINE=JERUSALEM
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: South Lebanon geurrillas have stepped up their
attacks on Israeli positions. Susan Sappir reports
from Jerusalem the action has set off rumors of an
imminent Israeli withdrawal from its 15-kilometer
buffer zone in Southern Lebanon.
TEXT: Pro-Iranian Hizbollah guerrillas staged a
daring attack (Sunday) on Israeli forces that may
signal an escalation in south Lebanon fighting. The
guerrillas attacked an Israeli position in the
foothills of the Golan Heights - very close to the
Syrian border.
Exchanges of fire with Israeli forces and pro-Israeli
militias in south Lebanon have intensified before
Israel's July deadline for the withdrawal of its
troops from the buffer zone.
Israeli television reported (Sunday) that, due to the
heavy shelling, Prime Minister Ehud Barak has ordered
the army to get ready to retreat by June first - a
month ahead of schedule. The report said all the
army's heavy equipment was being taken back to Israel,
that all army kitchens in Lebanon are shutting down,
and soldiers would be ready to pick up and head south
on one-hours' notice.
But the prime minister's office issued a denial,
saying - there is no order to withdraw on June first.
It said the Israeli army is preparing for a retreat
and will carry it out when the conditions are right.
The statement referred to the pro-Israeli South
Lebanon Army, saying that Israel would not decide its
moves based on the S-L-A's occupying the positions it
leaves.
The S-L-A has been caught between the retreating
Israeli forces and the Hizbollah, which has promised
to take vengeance on the militia for helping Israel
for more than 20-years. (SIGNED)
NEB/SS/RAE
21-May-2000 15:39 PM EDT (21-May-2000 1939 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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