The U.N. peacekeeping chief whose force monitors Lebanon's south said redeploying Lebanese troops there is crucial for any solution to more than a year of Hezbollah-Israel clashes that escalated into war in September.

"The redeployment of the Lebanese Armed Forces is an absolutely central element to any durable settlement," Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix told reporters during a briefing in Beirut.