Lebanon's cabinet decided unanimously yesterday to deploy 15,000 troops in south Lebanon as soon as Israel withdrew its troops from the area, Information Minister Ghazi Aridi said after a cabinet session yesterday.

"The government stresses its willingness to send a 15,000-strong Lebanese army force to south Lebanon as Israeli forces pullback behind the Blue Line (border)," the cabinet said in a statement read by Aridi.

The Lebanese army had called up reservists ahead of the planned deployment to the south, where thousands of Israeli troops are fighting Hezbollah guerrillas.

Aridi did not explicitly say whether Hezbollah would pull out of border areas it has been controlling since Israeli pullout from south Lebanon in 2000.

Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert has said there will be no ceasefire until international forces are deployed in south Lebanon and Hezbollah guerrillas removed from the border area.

"We need international intervention forces that have military capabilities and ability to respond and enforce, and not forces similar to UNIFIL," he said, referring to UN peacekeepers deployed in the area.