BEIRUT: Lebanese Defense Minister Fayez Ghosn Monday blamed Israel and its agents for the firing of mysterious rockets from Lebanon into the Jewish state in an attempt to undermine security and stability in south Lebanon.

"The party that has launched mysterious rockets from the south is known,” Ghosn told The Daily Star by telephone, in a clear reference to Israel and its agents. However, he did not elaborate.

“Lebanon’s enemies, namely Israel, have no interest in the continuation of calm and stability in the south,” he said.

In the meantime, a French Foreign Ministry official arrived in Beirut Monday night for talks on the role of French troops serving with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon following a recent bomb attack on the French peacekeepers.

Ghosn stressed cooperation between the Lebanese Army and UNIFIL. “The Army and UNIFIL are cooperating to bolster stability in the south,” Ghosn said. He added that the relationship between the local population in the south and UNIFIL has not been affected by the recent security incidents in the region.

Ghosn’s remarks came as the Lebanese Army said that one of its patrols uncovered four Grad rockets on the outskirts of the village of Mari in the Hasbaya province.

The rockets, covered with sand, were not ready to be launched, an army statement said. It added that a military expert checked the rockets, while “investigation has begun to determine the circumstances of the incident and identify the perpetrators.”

The discovery comes amid high tension in southern Lebanon following a number of security incidents in recent weeks that heightened fears of a military flareup on the Lebanese-Israeli border that has been generally calm since Israel’s devastating 34-day war against Lebanon.

On Dec. 11, a rocket launched from south Lebanon toward Israel fell short of its target, seriously wounding a Lebanese woman. The rocket launch came two days after a roadside bomb attack on a UNIFIL patrol near the southern port city of Tyre wounded five French peacekeepers, in the third assault on the U.N. force this year. TURN TO PAGE 10FROM PAGE 1The two incidents came nearly two weeks after rockets fired from south Lebanon hit northern Israel in the first such attack in two years, triggering retaliatory Israeli shelling of a Lebanese village near the border. No casualties were reported in the rocket attack or retaliatory shelling.

The three incidents raised fears of a military escalation in south Lebanon against the backdrop of Arab and European economic sanctions on Syria for refusing to halt its crackdown on protesters demanding the ouster of President Bashar Assad.

They also came amid rising concerns that the nine-month turmoil in Syria could spill over to Lebanon, where the rival Lebanese factions are sharply divided between supporters and opponents of the Syrian regime. While the Hezbollah-led March 8 alliance supports Assad, the opposition March 14 coalition led by the Future Movement openly backs the Syrian popular uprising.

No party has claimed responsibility for any of the three incidents in the south which prompted warnings from the parliamentary Future bloc of former Prime Minister Saad Hariri against using the region as “a platform to settle regional and international scores” – a clear allusion to Syria’s confrontation with Western states that have intensified pressure on Damascus to stop its violent crackdown on protesters.

Hezbollah and Syria have denied French accusations that they were behind the attack on French peacekeepers.

Meanwhile, a French official arrived in Beirut for talks with Lebanese officials on the situation in Lebanon, particularly in the south and the role played by the French contingent serving with UNIFIL, the state-run National News Agency reported. Nicholas de Riviere, chief of the international organizations department at the French Foreign Ministry, was also expected to discuss the attacks targeting the French peacekeepers.

His visit comes amid reports that France, whose troops have been attacked twice this year, might be contemplating reducing the number of its soldiers. France. Other contributing countries will reportedly make a decision regarding the number of soldiers it keeps in the force after the Security Council finalizes a strategic review of the operation this year.

U.N. Special Coordinator for Lebanon ad interim Robert Watkins welcomed Hezbollah’s condemnation of the attack on the French peacekeepers and called on Lebanese authorities to bring those responsible for the attacks to justice. Watkins spoke after meeting with Ammar Musawi, head of Hezbollah’s International Relations Department, with whom he discussed developments in Lebanon, including the situation in the south.

“It was also an opportunity to speak about the report, which was presented to the Security Council recently, on Security Council Resolution 1701. But the main focus of our discussion was actually on the security situation in the south. We are very concerned obviously about the attack against UNIFIL. We are very grateful for the statement made by Hezbollah condemning this attack some 10 days ago,” Watkins said in a statement released by his office.

“While we have welcomed the condemnation of the attack by all sides in Lebanon, we very much hope and expect that the Lebanese authorities will take the necessary measures to bring those responsible to justice. This is the third attack against UNIFIL in the last six months and this is of course a very unsatisfactory situation,” he added.

Watkins said it is very important not only to avoid the recurrence of such incidents but also to protect the stability of south Lebanon and of the rest of the country. “It is in the interest of all parties to ensure that security is guaranteed for those, such as UNIFIL troops, who are trying to maintain stability in the south along the Blue Line,” he said, referring to the U.N.-drawn border line between Lebanon and Israel.

Watkins said the United Nations continues to expect that both Israel and Lebanon will take the necessary steps to fully implement Resolution 1701, “as we generally expect Lebanon to meet all its international obligations under relevant resolutions. This remains an important issue for Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.”