U.N. Fully Deployed in Lebanon Zone

U.N. peacekeepers fanned out Saturday along the Lebanese-Israeli border, completing their deployment for a mission to bring stability to a zone occupied by Israel until May and controlled since by guerrillas.

White armored vehicles flying the blue U.N. flag cruised without incident along the border fence that has been the most violent front of the Arab-Israeli conflict for more than 20 years.

The deployment clears the way for Lebanon to station its own troops in the former Israeli-occupied zone, where anti-Israeli guerrillas have been the de facto authority since the Israelis left on May 24.

Lebanese Interior Minister Michel Murr said 1,000 soldiers and police officers were poised to enter the zone early Monday.

Murr said the force would maintain law and order in the former occupied zone, but not security along the border. That, he said, was the duty of the U.N. peacekeepers.

Lebanon has repeatedly refused to send troops to its southern border, saying it does not want to serve as guards for Israel. However, Murr said, the Lebanese force would not tolerate armed guerrillas in the former occupied zone.

In Jerusalem, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak welcomed the U.N. deployment.