NAQURA, Lebanon - UN chief Ban Ki-moon vowed on Saturday to work toward a permanent ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel, as he toured a border area devastated by last summer's war.

"I am still working to change the cessation of hostilities to a ceasefire agreement," Ban said at the headquarters of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) in the border town of Naqura.

The UN force is monitoring an truce agreement reached under UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended a 34-day war between Israel and the Lebanese Shiite militant group Hezbollah last August 14.

UNIFIL, which was set up in 1978 after Israel's first large-scale invasion of Lebanon, was beefed up after last year's war to 12,997 peacekeeping soldiers from 30 countries. It includes 11,302 ground troops and 1,695 naval personnel.

The UN force is patrolling southern Lebanon along with Lebanese soldiers who deployed along the border for the first time in several decades after the war.

"I hope the calm being witnessed on the ground will continue and the close cooperation with the Lebanese army will continue," he said, after revewing a blue-helmetted honor guard.

He promised to maintain "the United Nations commitment to support the people of Lebanon."

Ban said the UN force continued to be vigilant and reiterated that arms were being illegally smuggled into Lebanon.

"I am concerned about reports of smuggling. We do face some challenges and potential threats. The UN has to be vigilant, but the situation is rather calm," he said, without giving details.

Hezbollah and some other Islamist groupings in Lebanon are suspected by Israel of continuing to receive arms via Syria in breach of Resolution 1701.

Israel has ignored UN complaints over its continuing violations of Lebanese airspace, saying overflights were necessary because of the arms being smuggled into Lebanon.

After meeting with UNIFIL commanders in Naqura, Ban flew by helicopter to tour other peacekeeping positions in the south as well as areas along the volatile border between Lebanon and Israel.

The UN chief was due to end his visit to Lebanon later on Saturday.

During talks with Lebanese leaders in Beirut on Friday, Ban said "violations of Lebanese sovereignty must stop."

He also called for dialogue to end Lebanon's internal political crisis and the prompt creation of a court to try suspects in former premier Rafiq Hariri's murder. The killing has been widely blamed on powerful neighbour Syria, which has strongly denied any involvement.

The secretary general urged leaders on both sides of the political divide to pursue dialogue in order to reach national reconciliation and end the country's most damaging crisis since the end of the 1975-1990 civil war.

The Damascus-backed opposition consider Lebanon's Western-backed government illegitimate after all five Shiite Muslim ministers resigned last November.

The country has since been paralysed as the opposition insists on an enlarged unity cabinet in which it would wield a veto -- a demand rejected by the ruling majority.

The pro-government camp accuses the opposition of acting under Syrian pressure to paralyse political institutions in Lebanon and block the creation of the Hariri court.

Hariri's murder triggered domestic and international protests which forced Syria to end 29 years of military domination of its neighbour in April 2005. -AFP