U.N. force in Lebanon getting weaponry

Thu Aug 31, 7:19 PM ET

BEIRUT, Lebanon - The U.N. force in Lebanon will soon receive the first real boost in weapons and manpower: one battalion each of Italian and French troops with heavy armor, including tanks and artillery, officials said Thursday.

Nearly 1,000 Italian soldiers are due in the war-battered southern port of Tyre on Saturday, the largest addition yet to the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon, or UNIFIL, spokesman Alexander Ivanko told The Associated Press.

So far, only 250 extra French troops have arrived since a Security Council resolution promising an expanded U.N. force halted a month of fierce clashes between Israel and Hezbollah on Aug. 14.

Under the resolution, the 2,000-strong UNIFIL is to be increased to 15,000. Along with an equal number of Lebanese soldiers, the blue-helmeted troops are to deploy across south Lebanon as Israeli forces withdraw, leaving behind a buffer zone between Israel and Hezbollah.

France, which will initially lead the force, is sending its first full battalion of 882 troops and a shipment of tanks and heavy armor next week, French Defense Minister Michele Alliot-Marie told reporters. The troops will arrive in southern Lebanon by ship on Sept. 10 and will be operational Sept. 15.

France's contribution is expected to include Leclerc tanks, surface-to-surface artillery, short-range anti-aircraft missiles and radar - unusually heavy weapons for a peacekeeping force.

The heavy weaponry "has a dissuasive character and guarantees the freedom of movement and the security of the troops," Alliot-Marie told lawmakers in a closed-door session Wednesday. Excerpts from that meeting were released by the Defense Ministry Thursday.

U.N. member states are given wide freedom to supply their missions the equipment as see fit. Still, peacekeeping deployments don't normally deploy such heavy equipment - though the U.N. has required nations to in some hot spots, as in Congo, where it has attack helicopters in use.

"It's important that we arrive in sufficient strength to deter any potential spoilers and provide confidence in the process to strengthen the cessation of hostilities agreement and bring political breathing space for the parties on the ground," said Nick Birnback, an adviser in the U.N. Peacekeeping Department.

Alliot-Marie insisted France had obtained all "necessary guarantees" for its troops before committing to UNIFIL, given concern over previous peacekeeping debacles in Bosnia and Congo.

She also warned the 19-day-old cease-fire in Lebanon was being "imperfectly respected," and that the situation on the ground was still fragile. Though the truce has held overall, minor clashes and an Israeli raid into Lebanon have been reported.

On Friday, French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin will hold talks in Rome with Italian Premier Romano Prodi about the peacekeeping force, Villepin's office said.

The meeting will address the situation in the Middle East "at the moment when our two countries have decided to become involved in a strong way in keeping the peace in Lebanon," Villepin's office said in a statement.

Both countries were deeply involved in crafting and securing the U.N. cease-fire resolution. France will initially lead UNIFIL and Rome has signed up to take command of the mission in 2007.

Europe has pledged 6,900 soldiers for UNIFIL. Italy's contribution of 2,500 troops is the largest, second to France's 2,000.

An advance team of 29 Spanish soldiers arrived Wednesday in Beirut on a reconnaissance mission to prepare a larger contingent that could number up to 1,000 if Spain's Parliament approves the deployment, Ivanko said.

The Italian Defense Ministry put the number of its troops arriving in Tyre on Saturday at 800 and said 200 more would arrive in Beirut the next day.

The five-ship Italian fleet set off for Lebanon on Tuesday carrying Italian marines and engineering corps specialists. Italian commanders have said the troops are likely to be deployed in and around Tyre.

Alliot-Marie said a second French battalion would head to Lebanon a few weeks after the first.

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan has said UNIFIL would not disarm Hezbollah fighters as called for by Israel, and would only deploy along the Syrian frontier if the Lebanese government asks them to. Syria opposes any international forces along its border.

In her speech to lawmakers, Alliot-Marie said the French commitment to UNIFIL would cost $128 million for the first year, and that U.N. funds could reimburse between $12.8 million and $25.6 million.

A separate, emergency contingent of about 200 French soldiers arrived at Beirut airport Sunday to help the Lebanese army rebuild bridges destroyed or damaged during 34 days of fighting between Israeli forces and Hezbollah guerrillas. That team was sent to allow the existing UNIFIL force greater mobility, Alliot-Marie said.

The French government sent two ships carrying 15 temporary bridges, oil cleanup equipment and humanitarian aid to Lebanon this week as part of the rebuilding effort, the Foreign Ministry said Thursday.

UNIFIL has been in Lebanon since 1978 to monitor the withdrawal of Israeli troops who invaded Lebanon the same year.

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Associated Press writer Emmanuel Georges-Picot in Troyes, France, contributed to this report.

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