LEBANESE TROOPS ENTER FORMER ISRAELI-HELD ZONE.(MAIN)

Byline: HUSSEIN DAKROUB Associated Press

KFAR TIBNIT, Lebanon -- Lebanese security forces moved into the former Israeli-occupied zone in southern Lebanon early today, restoring a semblance of state authority for the first time in 24 years to a region torn by conflict.

Before dawn, a force of soldiers and police officers headed down the coastal highway from the capital, Beirut, in central Lebanon to the south and the border areas Israel vacated in May.

The first units were led by a military police vehicle followed by four armored vehicles carried on two trailer trucks. They crossed the former front line outside this village between what was the …