News In Brief

Israelis set deadline on talks for pullout; Lebanese wary

Israel said Thursday it had set a deadline for making substantive progress in troop withdrawal talks with Lebanon, but Lebanon retorted that the Israelis were making ''too many conditions we cannot accept.''

The statements came during the crucial 11th negotiating round - the last before a two-week Christmas break. The talks are scheduled to resume here Jan. 7 .

Meanwhile, Army troops were deployed in the northern port of Tripoli yesterday in a Syrian-sponsored operation designed to end the nine-year reign of rival militias there, the state radio said. No resistance from local militiamen was reported.