BBC Monday, 16 April, 2001, 00:17 GMT 01:17 UK

Israel bombs Syrian positions

At least two Syrian soldiers are reported to have been killed in an attack by Israeli warplanes on a radar post in eastern Lebanon.

The Israeli army said the air strikes were in response to the killing of one of its soldiers by Syrian-backed Hezbollah guerrillas.

The Lebanese Prime Minister, Rafiq Al-Hariri, is reported to be holding urgent talks with Syrian leaders following the raid.

A BBC correspondent in Beirut says the raids are a significant escalation of the response to Saturday's Hezbollah attack, which was immediately followed by the first Israeli artillery and air strikes on Lebanon since its troops pulled out of the country a year ago.

The latest air strikes were carried out against Syrian positions in the mountainous Dahr el-Baidar area, some 35 km (22 miles) east of the Lebanese capital, Beirut.

Syria has has about 35,000 troops in Lebanon and is the main power broker there.

The Israeli army said in a statement: "Syria continues to encourage terrorism against Israel, and the Israeli army cannot tolerate a continuation of attacks by Hezbollah, which operates under sponsorship of the Syrian Government.

"The Israeli Defence Force will use all the means at its disposal to ensure the safety of the residents of the northern border and its soldiers."

The Israeli soldier whose death sparked the air raids was killed when Hezbollah guerrillas hit a tank with a Sagger missile in the Shebaa Farms area, where the borders of Lebanon, Syria and Israel meet.

The farms lie on the border between Lebanon and the Golan Heights which Israel seized from Syria in 1967.

The Lebanese Government and Hezbollah, which is backed by Syria and Iran, both say Israel's withdrawal from southern Lebanon will not be complete until the farms are vacated.

But United Nations special envoy Staffan de Mistura said the Hezbollah attack was a "clear infringement" of UN Resolution 425, under which the UN certified Israel's withdrawal from south Lebanon as complete.

Tension has been especially high in Lebanon with the anniversary of the beginning of the country's long civil war in 1975.

Syrian troops have been stationed in Lebanon ever since intervening to support Christian militias against Palestinian and leftist forces in 1976.

The Christians later turned against Syria and welcomed the Israeli invasions into Lebanon, which developed into Israel's controversial 22-year occupation in the south.

Lebanese Christians have been pressing for a Syrian troop withdrawal to match the Israeli one, a demand opposed by many of the country's Muslims.

-- Anonymous, April 15, 2001