LEBANON: As Israel partially lifts blockade, Lebanese troops start to deploy in south

Israel lifted its eight-week sea blockade of Lebanon on Friday (September 8) after an interim maritime task force led by an Italian admiral deployed off the Lebanese coast, the commander of U.N. peacekeepers said. As Lebanon waited for the lifting of the blockade, a Syrian cargo ship arrived at Beirut's sea port carrying international Red Crescent aid. Israel ended an air embargo on Lebanon on Thursday (September 7) but had held back at the last minute from allowing free shipping movement, saying the naval blockade would be lifted only when the ships of an international force were deployed. Disappointed Lebanese fishermen in the small port of Tyre reacted angrily to news of the postponement that meant they would no longer be permitted to set sail on Friday morning. The fishermen had spent all day Thursday (September 7) preparing to leave the harbour in the pre-dawn hours of Friday to cast their nets out to sea, but were then told the blockade lift was temporarily cancelled. It has been nearly two months since boats have been allowed to leave the harbour. One fisherman Antoun Al-Khoury told Reuters Television, "Do you think we are happy? Everyone has seven or eight children and we are jobless. Noone can accept this. God will not accept this. They said that the harbour is open and then they changed their minds and closed it again." But the fishermen continued to prepare their boats and nets, desperate to earn an income and to catch food for their families. Israel imposed the blockade when it went to war with Hizbollah after guerrillas captured two of its soldiers in a cross-border raid on July 12. It bombed Beirut airport and coastal radars and barred most shipping from Lebanese ports. Lebanon demanded a lifting of the blockade to enable it to speed reconstruction of bridges, homes, roads and factories devastated during a 34-day war between Israel and Hizbollah. Flights to and from Beirut resumed from Thursday evening and several international and Arab airlines announced resumption of normal services. Many countries have criticised the blockade, which Israel said was aimed at stopping Hizbollah from re-arming, but which Lebanon saw as collective punishment. Residents of the southern Lebanese village of El-Biyada welcomed forces from the Lebanese army on Friday morning after Israeli troops withdrew from the area. Crowds gathered to meet the soldiers as their tanks made their way through the southern town. Residents threw flower petals and sweets at the Lebanese soldiers to express their gratitude and welcome them into their community. "I am so happy that the Lebanese army has arrived because this is the army of our own country and they are our safety. We are happy because we have been waiting for more than 22 years. May God protect them for their families. They are arriving to protect their own land and their own country," one woman from El-Biyada told Reuters Television. Israel quit the village and other outposts in the nearby towns of Chamaa and Chihine late on Thursday (September 7). All that remained of the Israeli military positions were a few rubbish heaps and an empty base. "We were not living in safety (when the Israeli Army was here). We could not go out. We were occupied, barred from our jobs. We were jobless. So yesterday the Israeli army left the El-Biyada area and this is the Lebanese army arriving with hope for us. There is none other like the Lebanese army and to live under its command and its protection. We will live in freedom and in safety. We can come and go and no one will ask us anything. It is good to know that the protection is coming from your own army," one resident of the south said, pointing at a long line of Lebanese forces moving along the coastal road leading to the southern most point of Lebanon. Lebanese forces along with various contingents of United Nations troops have fanned out throughout the south over the past weeks in the hopes of taking over security control of the region so that Israel can completely withdraw its military forces from Lebanon. Further north near the village of Naqoura more Lebanese forces were making their way to the south. Rows of military jeeps and tanks lined the streets. The United Nations expects Israel to complete its pullout from Lebanon once there are 5,000 U.N. peacekeepers on the ground. UNIFIL forces are set to reach an eventual 15,000 and will work alongside a similar number of Lebanese troops in a southern zone to be free of any Israeli or armed Hizbollah presence. j

ITN Source | September 8, 2006

Tags:. .eventual. .disappointed. .meant. .enable. .cancelled