The Security Council extended the mandate of UN peacekeepers in southern Lebanon for another year today, but Israel and Lebanon accused each other of obstructing their work.
Israeli and Lebanese envoys welcomed the unanimous council vote but traded charges of violating the UN resolution that set up a ceasefire in South Lebanon after a war two years ago between the Jewish state and the Lebanese Hezbollah Shi'ite Muslim group.
Extending the mandate of the 13,000-strong UNIFIL force until August 31st, 2009, the Security Council called on all parties to respect the ceasefire and to cooperate with the United Nations to achieve a long-term solution.
UNIFIL has been in Lebanon since 1978 but was beefed up after the 2006 war. Security Council Resolution 1701 also gave it tougher rules of engagement, charging it with keeping armed men and illicit weapons out of the area south of the Litani River.
A UN report prepared by a team of independent border security experts appeared to confirm Israel's allegations UNIFIL has failed to stem the flow of arms into Lebanon from Syria, despite a ban that UNIFIL is supposed to enforce.
Apart from some limited progress in tightening up border monitoring, it said the situation had improved little since a year ago, when Lebanon Independent Border Assessment Team (LIBAT I) made recommendations on improving the situation.
"The overall situation renders Lebanon's borders as penetrable as was the case one year ago during the LIBAT I assessment," the LIBAT II report said.