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Lebanese army arrests Israeli man: source

Arab-Israel Relations Materials 28 August 2009 04:33 (UTC +04:00)

The Lebanese army has arrested an Israeli man with psychological problems after he crossed into Lebanon from Israel, a security source said on Thursday, Reuters reported.

The man was wandering near the southern Lebanese border village of Aitaroun on Tuesday when he was arrested, but his nationality had not been immediately clear.

"The Lebanese army has an Israeli man in custody. He is of east European origin and it's clear that he has psychological problems," the source who asked not to be identified, told Reuters.

The Lebanese army had no comment on the incident.

The Israeli army had said on Tuesday its forces had identified a "suspicious person crossing the border from Israel into Lebanon. The forces conducted searches in the area and passed on the information to UNIFIL," referring to the U.N. peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon.

UNIFIL said it was aware that the Lebanese army had arrested the man but had no information on his nationality. "We're engaged with both parties (the Lebanese army and the Israeli Defense Forces) to try and find a solution to this issue," said UNIFIL spokesman Andrea Tenenti.

The powerful Shi'ite military and political group Hezbollah fought Israel three years ago in a 34-day war after the group captured two Israeli soldiers in a cross-border raid. The two parties have not exchanged fire since the war ended.

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