LEBANON: Israel partially lifts blockade, Lebanese troops start to deploy in south and French Transport Minister flies into Beirut and opens temporary bridge

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 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. No one 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 up reconstruction of bridges, homes, roads and factories devastated during a 34-day war between Israel and Hizbollah. 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. All that remained of the Israeli military positions were a few rubbish heaps and an empty base. Also on Friday Air France resumed its flights to Beirut as a Boeing 777 touched down at the city's Rafik Hariri International Airport. The aircraft departed Paris at 0700gmt with almost a full load of passengers including the French Transport Minister Dominique Perben on board. After his arrival, Perben met with Lebanese political leaders including Prime Minister Fouad Siniora. "Regarding this first flight, there was a lot of held in emotions with the passengers. The only moment were there was an obvious expression of emotion was when through the window, we noticed the city of Beirut and then I must tell you, against air france's procedures, a number of passengers got up as the plane was landing to see the city and there was evidence of a lot of shared emotions and it was very moving for me also," Perben said. Air France had cancelled its flights to Lebanon after Israel bombed the runways at Beirut International Airport after Hizbollah captured the two Israeli soldiers. Air France said it resumed bookings on Thursday after Israel lifted its air blockade of Lebanon. After meeting with Siniora, Perben then attended the inauguration ceremony for a temporary bridge built by a contingent of French soldiers. The bridge, near the town of Darmour, was bombed during Israel's assault on Lebanon along with most bridges across the country. The French soldiers are rebuilding bridges in six locations across Lebanon and are part of a special division of the French Army which deals with reconstruction and transport. They came to Lebanon within the framework of a bilateral agreement between France and Lebanon, and are not part of the French soldiers affiliated with UNIFIL. A UNIFIL spokesman said four Italian ships were currently supporting the Lebanese navy in monitoring Lebanon's territorial waters. Italy said it would soon deploy more troops to southern Lebanon that along with the dispatch of other European soldiers would comprise an "effective ground force", opening the way for all Israeli troops to leave. According to initial estimates by analysts, Israeli air strikes destroyed 3.5 - 4.0 billion U.S. dollars worth of the Lebanese infrastructure in the five week war and did as yet uncalculated damage to the economy by wiping out major contributors to the economy. Israeli media have said the pullout was likely to finish by the start of the Jewish New Year, which begins on September 22.

ITN Source | September 9, 2006

Tags:. .territorial. .admiral. .threw. .partially. .cargo