NEWYORK - UN chief Kofi Annan called for restraint Monday after rockets fired into Israel from south Lebanon triggered tit-for-tat clashes.

Annan also urged Beirut to assert control over the use of force from its side of the border, known as the Blue Line, one day after the rocket attacks were followed by Israeli air raids on guerrilla bases deep inside Lebanon.

"The Secretary-General is concerned at the serious clashes across the Blue Line that took place yesterday, which the United Nations is continuing to investigate," Annan's spokesman, Stephane Dujarric, said in a statement.

"The Secretary-General is pleased that the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) and his senior representatives in the area were able to broker a cessation of hostilities, and he commends the Government of Israel and the Government of Lebanon for avoiding further escalation," Dujarric said.

"The Secretary-General continues to follow the situation closely, and calls on all parties to exercise maximum restraint and respect fully the Blue Line," he said.

"He particularly urges the Government of Lebanon to make every effort to exercise its control over the use of force from its territory."

"It is the responsibility of the Lebanese authorities to respect the (UN-demarcated) Blue Line and prevent any attacks across this blue line," Milos Strugar, the senior advisor to the UN commander of the UN Interim Forces in Lebanon, said on Monday.

Strugar said the situation in the South following a UN-brokered cease-fire Sunday evening was "quiet in general, but also fragile and cautious."

He added: "We are working with everyone to prevent escalation and confrontation in the area and to maintain calm."

Tensions were still running high after the series of attacks across the border on Sunday that left a pro-Syrian Palestinian militant and a Lebanese Hezbollah fighter dead and two Israeli soldiers injured. (with AFP)

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