Mikati says ready to bolster army in south after any ceasefire

Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati said Tuesday that Lebanon was ready to bolster the army’s presence in the south after any ceasefire, adding that Israeli troops were making brief cross-border incursions.

"Currently we have 4,500 soldiers in south Lebanon, and we wish to increase them to between 7,000 and 11,000," Mikati told AFP in an interview, adding that as soon as a ceasefire is reached, "we can move soldiers" from other parts of the country to the south. "The information we have is that there are brief (Israeli) incursions" into south Lebanon, he added.

Mikati also told AFP that security had been tightened in the country’s only airport in Beirut, to remove any pretexts for an Israeli attack.

"The government is doing everything in its power to remove any pretexts from the Israelis’ hands," he said, adding that "tightened security has been in place for a week at the airport", located near Hezbollah’s south Beirut stronghold that has seen intense Israeli bombardment.