Associated Press,  Army engineers in south Lebanon dismantled Friday two rockets mounted for firing at Israel, a senior military official said of a move that suggested Lebanon was exerting greater control over its border area. "The two rockets were found in an orchard in the border town of Naqoura," the official told the Associated Press, adding that the army was investigating who owned the rockets and had searched the area for more. The incident came three days after Lebanese-based guerrillas fired rockets into northern Israel, causing damage to the town of Kiryat Shmona and lightly injuring four people.

In a rare rebuke, Lebanon's Prime Minister Fuad Saniora condemned the rocket attack and said his government would catch the perpetrators to make sure it did not happen again. Although it was not the first time that Lebanese soldiers had seized rockets in southern Lebanon, Friday's dismantling suggested the army was being more vigilant following Saniora's remarks. The jets also flew over a PFLP-GC base in Sultan Yacoub, a village about 5 kilometers (3 miles) from the Syrian border, security officials said.

By MICHAEL SLACKMAN, BEIRUT, Lebanon Dec. 29 - The roadblocks begin a few miles before Gen. Michel Aoun's house on a plusvh green hillside dotted with expansive villas. First, two soldiers and concrete barriers stop traffic. Then a maze of concrete blocks slows cars to a crawl. Then three more soldiers. Then a gate, and more guards, and a metal detector. Cellphones are placed in a cabinet and, finally, there he is, General Aoun, leader of the largest Christian bloc in Parliament.

Clear across the city, out of town and up a winding mountain road, the country's Druse leader, Walid Jumblatt, is holed up in a medieval castle, protected by soldiers, checkpoints, an army of his own men and a towering metal gate.In fact, most of Lebanon's chief political and factional leaders are taking cover these days, rarely leaving their well-guarded compounds, fearful they will be killed.

"Nowadays it has become more risky," Mr. Jumblatt said when asked if he ever leaves his mountain fortress. "They have listening devices stronger than the Lebanese Army. They have infiltrated everything."

BEIRUT- A pro-Syrian group that claimed it killed a Lebanese editor has threatened to kill the next head of the UN commission investigating the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, the editor