BEIRUT, Oct 28 (Reuters) - More than 100 Lebanese protesters
and human rights activists on Thursday demanded the closure of a
notorious south Lebanon prison run by Israel's client militia.
    Police and Red Cross workers surrounded the demonstrators,
mainly women, children and elderly people, who were gathered in
front of the U.N. headquarters in downtown Beirut.
    "Raze the Khiam prison! Free the children!" they chanted.
"Where are human rights inside Khiam?"
    Israel's South Lebanon Army (SLA) militia runs Khiam, where
about 140 inmates are being held without trial.
    The prison is located inside Israel's 15-km (nine-mile) deep
occupation zone in south Lebanon.
    Human rights groups have long voiced concern over torture in
the prison. Most inmates were rounded up by the SLA for
allegedly aiding the guerrilla groups fighting to end Israeli
control over the south.
    Israel has occupied various parts of south Lebanon since
1978. It carved out the occupation zone in 1985 saying it needed
to protect its borders against potential guerrilla attacks.

REUTERS
0933 281099 GMT