Lebanon's government says it will complain to the UN about Israeli threats to destroy Lebanese villages with “disproportionate force.”

Speaking after a late Friday cabinet meeting, Information Minister Tarek Mitri said the recent threats by Israel should be taken seriously.

He said Prime Minister Fuad Saniora would write to the United Nations on the subject.

A senior Israeli army commander said last week that Israel would use “disproportionate force” and destroy villages, mostly located at the Lebanese border with Israel, from where he claimed missiles are targeted at Israel.

Meanwhile Lebanese President Michel Suleiman, in the wake of the Friday night cabinet meeting, said in a statement that Syrian troop movements near the border between the two countries are aimed at tackling smuggling and do not threaten Lebanon.

French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, speaking in Cairo during a visit to Egypt, also said on Saturday that the troops "are not threatening anyone".

In September, the Lebanese army stated that 10,000 Syrian special forces would be deployed in the Abbudiya region along the border between Lebanon and Syria.

Members of the anti-Syrian parliamentary majority in Lebanon claim Syria could be setting the stage to return its forces to their country.

The US State Department said on Monday that Washington was concerned about Syrian troop movements and warned Damascus against interference in Lebanon.

Damascus on Wednesday defended its troop deployments as being necessary to combat smuggling and infiltration by saboteurs.

MMA/HAR