The metal sign dangling from a shiny new chain reads: "Warning. Access to this area is forbidden. Hizbullah."

The notice strung between two concrete blocks on a hillside overlooking the Litani River, is just one indication that the Shiite militants have relocated here to build a new line of defense.

Hizbullah's strengthening presence just across the Litani – the northern border of the zone UN peacekeeping forces and Lebanese troops have been policing since last summer's war between Hizbullah and Israel – coincides with a series of land purchases here by a Shiite businessman with ties to the militant group and, critics say, with funds from Tehran.

While analysts say the military buildup does not necessarily signal any intention by the Iranian-supported militants to launch a fresh round of fighting, they say it is a troubling sign that Hizbullah is rearming just out of sight of the United Nations.

Regionally, say critics, that means Iran could be rebuilding its ally's military capability inside Lebanon and could strike again at Israel. "If you have a major Iranian- American clash, one thing we fear is that the Iranian reaction could be from Lebanon," says Marwan Hamade, Lebanon's telecommunications minister and political opponent of Hizbullah.

Hizbullah has chosen to abandon its former stronghold in Lebanon's UN-patrolled southern border district where its fighters withstood Israel's month-long onslaught last summer.

In that area, the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) has swelled to six times its former size with reinforcements from NATO countries such as France, Italy, and Spain. They have been joined by some 20,000 Lebanese troops and together they man around 100 checkpoints and conduct 500 patrols day and night, UNIFIL officials say.

To be sure, Hizbullah's fighters continue to live in the southern border villages and keep a close eye on movements along the Israeli border and on the newly arrived European UN troops. But UNIFIL officials say that they have seen no armed fighters since September and that Hizbullah's former "security pockets" and bunkers have been abandoned.

"Some arms caches have been found, but they are from before the war. There have been no instances of attempts to smuggle weapons into the area," says Milos Strugar, UNIFIL's senior adviser.

But now, locals say, Hizbullah is seen more frequently in these remote hills just north of the Litani. "They have always been in the area but there's a lot more movement now," says one man who lives in the vicinity but requested anonymity due to the sensitivity of the subject.

On a brush-covered hillside overlooking the Litani River, two Hizbullah fighters wearing camouflage uniforms and carrying rifles and walkie-talkies emerged from the bushes beside a stone track. They take the name of a visiting reporter and politely – but firmly – say that no entry is permitted into the area.

Less than a mile to the west, another Hizbullah position is guarded by an armed and uniformed fighter sitting in a small hut with a landline telephone.

According to one veteran Hizbullah fighter, during the war, long-range rockets were launched at Israel, around 10 miles to the south, from underground firing positions in this same area.

Lebanese troops man checkpoints along the main roads here, but are not interfering with Hizbullah's activities. With Hizbullah refusing to disarm and the Lebanese government and Army incapable of dismantling it by force, the fate of the group's arms remains an intractable political dilemma.

Hizbullah does not deny that it is replenishing its war-depleted stocks. Three weeks ago, a truck filled with rockets and mortars destined for Hizbullah was discovered by Lebanese customs police. Hizbullah asked that the weapons be returned, but the Lebanese minister of defense refused, saying they would be handed over to the Lebanese Army.

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