"The Lebanese army has called up reserve troops," said the source, who declined to be named.

He pointed to remarks by Prime Minister Fuad Siniora on Monday who said the government was ready to deploy 15,000 troops to the border with Israel, which had been under the control of the Lebanese Shiite militant group Hezbollah.

A senior military official told AFP that "the measure is meant to beef up the capabilities of the military, awaiting still undefined future missions."

The Lebanese state news agency said reserve troops should "show up between August 10 and August 16."

Siniora said at an Arab foreign ministers' meeting in Beirut that his government was ready to "send the army up to the international border."

Siniora also told the Washington Post that Lebanon was ready to deploy 15,000 soldiers in southern Lebanon to the border with Israel.

He said the government was ready to accept a 2,000-member international force led by the United Nations Interim Forces in Lebanon (UNIFIL), until a political settlement can be worked out and a more permanent international peacekeeping force can be assembled and deployed to Lebanon.

"And this can be done quickly," he said.

"This is a Lebanese objective and it suits the Israelis' objectives as well," he added.

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