LEBANON / FRANCE: UN says Lebanon truce may unravel and urges restraint as French troops leave the port town of Toulon for Lebanon

The United Nations said on Sunday (August 19) the week-old truce between Israel and Hizbollah could easily collapse, a day after it condemned an Israeli raid on the guerrillas in Lebanon as a violation. Senior U.N. envoy Terje Roed-Larsen said the truce that halted the 34-day war had provided the Lebanese government with a good chance to extend its authority over all of the country. "I do think, as the (United Nations) Secretary-General (Kofi Annan) and myself had stated yesterday, that this is unhelpful, both because such incidents will discourage deployment in the south, deployment along the other borders but also particularly because it will not exactly give an incentive for troop contributors to come forward," Roed-Larsen told reporters in Beirut. "At the same time, we are at the tilting edge still and this can easily start sliding again and lead us quickly into the abyss of violence and bloodshed. This is why diplomacy is so important because it is only forceful, energetic diplomacy in the political field, nationally in the region and internationally, which can produce that up side and prevent that horrible down side which we have seen the results of over the last few weeks," he added. A 30,000-strong force is envisaged for south Lebanon, made up of Lebanese and U.N. troops in equal number. U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said on Saturday (August 19) Israel's commando raid on a Hizbollah stronghold deep inside Lebanon had violated the truce that came into effect on Aug. 14. The Lebanese government vowed to crush any attempt on the Lebanese side of the border to break the truce, saying anyone attacking Israel would be considered a traitor. Meanwhile one hundred and fifty French troops left the port town of Toulon by ship for Lebanon on Sunday (August 20) morning, the remainder of the 200 troops promised by France to help the UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon. France played a key role in the implementation of U.N. Security Council resolution 1701, which led to a ceasefire on Monday (August 14), and was widely expected to contribute more troops to the enlarged peacekeeping force that's meant to help the Lebanese army supervise the pullout of Israeli troops. "The detachment of around 100 men is an emergency force," said Colonel Christophe Issac of the 13th Regiment. "The order to move them arrived Wednesday to Thursday night. They arrived yesterday at Miromas and were held there to wait and are embarking today (19/8). The emergency is in response to the situation on the ground. The aim is to help mobilise the Lebanese forces' deployment in southern Lebanon. So we are responding to a situation judged to be an emergency," he added. Washington and the United Nations, which had hoped France would form the backbone of the expanded U.N. force, have been disappointed at the number of troops France has committed so far. French president Jacques Chirac, in telephone calls on Saturday (August 19) with other European leaders, explained France's decision by stressing the need for a clearer mandate for the U.N. force. Around 50 French peacekeepers arrived in south Lebanon on Saturday. The 200 troops that left this weekend are from an engineering regiment, and they left with vehicles, machines and bridges to "contribute to the mobility" of the UNIFIL troops, according to the Defence Ministry. They will work on opening up transport routes and building projects. Chirac has left open the possibility that Paris will send more troops to the U.N. force in Lebanon, which is eventually expected to be a 15,000-strong outfit capable of policing the peace between Israel and Hizbollah guerrillas that followed a month-long war. The Lebanese army will act strongly against any attempt to breach the U.N.-brokered truce that halted a 34-day war between Israel and Hizbollah, Defence Minister Elias al-Murr said on Sunday (August 20). "The army will be very tough in dealing with such an issue," he told a news conference. Murr said, however, he was confident such a breach would not come from the Shi'ite Muslim guerrilla group which agreed to U.N. Security Council resolution 1701 that stopped the fighting on August 14. "Any rocket fired from Lebanon will benefit Israel," he said, suggesting that such incidents would provide a pretext for the Jewish state to attack Lebanon. The United Nations has said an Israeli raid on Saturday (August 19) targeting a Hizbollah stronghold in eastern Lebanon had violated the truce. Murr also said it could take weeks for the army to consolidate its presence in south Lebanon, where it began deploying on Thursday (August 17) as part of the U.N. resolution. He said the army now controlled Lebanon's border with Syria and it would be tough in dealing with any arms shipments. Meanwhile, Lebanese troops in Tbnin ready for deployment further south were told to halt their movement following a call by the Defence Minister who said he might reconsider the deployment following an Israeli raid deep into the country, straining a U.N.-backed truce that ended Israel's 34-day war with Hizbollah. Lebanese Defence Minister Elias al-Murr said he might seek to halt the deployment of troops to the south following the raid in the Bekaa which Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora described as "a naked violation" of the U.N. brokered truce deal. Lebanon's defence minister said that, if Israel carried out further, similar operations in Lebanon, he would ask the cabinet to reconsider its decision to deploy Lebanese troops to the south of the country. That would be a serious blow to a U.N. plan for southern Lebanon, which envisages a 30,000-strong force in the area made up of Lebanese and U.N. troops.

ITN Source | August 21, 2006

Tags:. .telephone. .jacques. .horrible. .shiite. .straining