* Arms site in southern Lebanon blew up last week * UN peacekeeping chief: arms were old but in good order * Some 'civilians' confronting UN troops were Hezbollah By Louis Charbonneau UNITED NATIONS, July 24 (Reuters) - The U.N. peacekeeping chief said on Thursday there were signs an illegal weapons stockpile that exploded last week in southern Lebanon belonged to the Lebanese guerrilla movement Hezbollah. In a speech delivered behind closed doors to the Security Council, obtained by Reuters, U.N. peacekeeping chief Alain Le Roy also said that some of the people who tried to prevent U.N. peacekeepers in Lebanon (UNIFIL) from investigating the site were Hezbollah members dressed in civilian clothes. "A number of indications suggest that the depot belonged to Hezbollah, and, in contrast to previous discoveries by UNIFIL and the Lebanese Armed Forces of weapons and ammunition, that it was not abandoned but, rather, actively maintained," he told the 15-nation council. He said the mere presence of such weapons and ammunition dump south of the Litani River represented a "serious violation of resolution 1701." Security Council resolution 1701, which ended the 34-day war in 2006 between Israel and Hezbollah, banned all unauthorized weapons between the Litani River and the Blue Line, the U.N.-monitored border between Israel and Lebanon. Hezbollah is backed by Iran and Syria. The weapons at the site of the explosion were from various countries and included mortars, AK-47s, artillery shells and 122mm rockets, he said. ARMS IN 'GOOD ORDER' "The weapons and ammunition dated from the 1970s to the 1990s and generally appeared to be in good order," he added. After Le Roy delivered his speech, U.S. Deputy Ambassador Alejandro Wolff joined Israel in accusing Hezbollah of violating the U.N. weapons embargo in southern Lebanon and undermining the efforts of U.N. peacekeepers there. UNIFIL said last week that peacekeepers had been pelted with stones by a crowd of about 100 Lebanese in the village of Khirbet Selim while trying to investigate the July 14 explosion the following day at the suspected arms dump. Israel's U.N. ambassador, Gabriela Shalev, said in a letter to the Security Council that the arms cache that exploded clearly belonged to Hezbollah. She said the actions of Hezbollah represented "a clear violation of 1701 which gravely endanger the stability in the region ... (and) the local Lebanese population." UNIFIL's difficulties did not end on July 15, Le Roy said. Three days later U.N. peacekeepers and Lebanese army personnel attempted to investigate a suspicious house near the site of the explosion but were confronted by a crowd of civilians, including women and children. Eventually the crowd began throwing stones at them. "In the course of the events ... UNIFIL noticed an increasing level of organization among those confronting UNIFIL," Le Roy said about the July 18 incident. Le Roy said the site where the explosion occurred was still being investigated. It was unclear whether the 15-nation council would take any further action, though U.S. envoy Wolff made clear Washington was taking the incidents seriously. Other council diplomats said the council should wait until the U.N. investigation is completed before taking any action. (Editing by Will Dunham)
Israeli army personnel carriers patrol the border with Lebanon as seen from Odeisseh village in south Lebanon July 23, 2009.REUTERS/ Ali Hashisho (LEBANON CONFLICT POLITICS) ...
