JERUSALEM – Some members of a disbanded Lebanese militia that fought alongside Israel (search) during its lengthy occupation of southern Lebanon will become guards on Israeli buses, trying to stop Palestinian attacks, an official said Wednesday.
Avner Ovadia, spokesman for the Transport Ministry, said that former members of the militia will help identify and apprehend bombers before they make it onto buses.
South Lebanese Army militiamen (search) and their families, about 7,000 people altogether, fled into Israel when Israeli forces pulled out, ending Israel's occupation of a strip of Lebanese territory and a guerrilla war against Hezbollah (search).
Palestinian bombers have blown up dozens of Israeli buses during nearly 33 months of Palestinian-Israeli violence, killing and wounding hundreds.
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