LEBANON: Lebanese foreign minister says happy about about EU decision on troop deployment in Lebanon.

Lebanon's Foreign Minister Fawzi Salloukh said on Saturday (August 26) that Lebanon was pleased with the decision made in Brussels on troop deployment in southern Lebanon. European nations agreed on Friday to offer more than half the troops for an expanded United Nations peacekeeping contingent in Lebanon. "We are happy here in Lebanon because the Brussels conference yielded positive results. The decision taken by sending about 7000 to 8000 European soldiers to join the UNIFIL is of great assistance and help the the Lebanese army which has already started to deploy in the south of Lebanon," Salloukh told Reuters Television. But some residents of Beirut seemed to disagree, saying that the Lebanese army was capable of defending its own borders. "This will not benefit Lebanon. We need the Lebanon army should carry the arms and defend its sovereignty and its nation," said one resident of Beirut, Mohammed Karam. U.N. chief Kofi Annan hailed the move by EU foreign ministers as creating the backbone of a credible force, which could total up to 15,000 troops, even though EU officials warned it could be months before its full deployment. Annan called for the first troops to arrive in days to begin policing a fragile truce between Israel and Hizbollah and Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi said the Italian contingent could leave as soon as Tuesday. Clarifying doubts over the leadership of the mission, Annan said he had asked France, who will contribute 2,000 troops, to continue to lead UNIFIL until Feb. 2007. The leadership would then pass to Italy, which has pledged up to 3,000 soldiers Salloukh also help talks with the Secretary General of the Fatah movement, Farouk Kaddoumi. Kaddoumi is due to meet with Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri.

ITN Source | August 26, 2006

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