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Israeli support for Lebanon pullout rises

JERUSALEM: Six out of 10 Israelis want their troops out of south Lebanon with or without a deal with Syria, according to an opinion poll published on Friday.

The Gallup poll for the newspaper Maariv showed 61 percent backed a unilateral pullout of troops from an occupation zone in south Lebanon, up from 56 percent three weeks ago.

Prime Minister Ehud Barak has promised to pull Israeli troops out of the occupied area by July, but prefers to do so after reaching a peace deal with Lebanon and Syria, the main power broker in Lebanon.

Public support for an immediate withdrawal has grown since Hizbollah guerrillas killed seven Israeli soldiers starting in January. Israeli retaliatory air raids hit three power stations and wounded 20 Lebanese.

The poll of 670 people, taken on Wednesday, found that 31 percent opposed a unilateral withdrawal from the zone Israel set up in south Lebanon in 1985. Eight percent had no opinion. The margin of error was 4.5 percent.

This week the Israeli cabinet began debating the issue, while talks with Syria, renewed in December after a nearly four-year break, stalled in January.

Israel set up the zone with the proclaimed aim of protecting its northern towns from guerrilla attacks. The Iranian-backed Hizbollah guerrillas are fighting against Israel's occupation.-Reuters