Syria has told the United Nations that it opposes a UN plan to deploy civilian monitors along its border with Lebanon in an effort to prevent weapons from being smuggled from Syria to Hezbollah.

In talks over the last few weeks, Syrian authorities threatened to completely close the border if such forces are deployed on the Lebanese side.

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The UN plan is aimed at providing a way out of stalled talks on enforcing an embargo on weapons going into Lebanon, in accordance with UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which was passed after Israel's war with Hezbollah last summer.

Several weeks ago, UN officials raised the issue with Israeli officials in the Foreign and Defense Ministries. Israel sees the proposal as positive, but the government has so far refrained from taking a public position on it - at least in part because it does not want to sabotage efforts to convince Syria and the Lebanese government to agree on it. Sources knowledgeable about the talks have said the chances of implementing the proposal are not high, primarily due to Syrian opposition.

A senior Israeli security official told Haaretz yesterday that the lack of enforcement of the arms embargo is one of the most problematic issues that have surfaced since the war ended. The official said Syria, Iran and Hezbollah were making a great effort to expedite weapons smuggling in an effort to restore Hezbollah's arsenal to its pre-war levels.

Some 8,000 Lebanese soldiers are currently deployed on the border with Syria, but their presence appears to have little effect on halting the smuggling. There are many dirt paths along the border that make it relatively easy to smuggle weapons from Syria into Lebanon.