UNITED NATIONS - Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday said that despite a modest progress, Lebanon's efforts to secure its border with Syria in an attempt to stop arms smuggling to various factions has been "insufficient."

"There has been some progress on the northern border ... and some minor improvements at other locations. In general, however, Lebanon has not yet succeeded in enhancing the overall security of its borders in any significant manner," Ban told the Security Council in a report prepared by a team of experts headed by Lasse Christensen of Denmark.

The five-member team, called the Lebanon Independent Border Assessment Team (LIBAT), comprises experts in border security, police, customs and military issues, was set up by Ban after a request from the Council in April 2007.

The team travelled to Lebanon for the second time late last month and spent several weeks holding consultations with Lebanese officials and bilateral partners already assisting the country on border monitoring and reviewing existing security arrangements.

The move was in the context of implementing resolution 1701 which ended the 2006 war between Hizbollah and the Israeli Forces. -Kuna