LEBANON: Lebanese foreign minister says he's happy about about EU decision on troop deployment in Lebanon, as French naval carrier docks with equipment.

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 (August 25) 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 to the Lebanese army which has already started to deploy in the south of Lebanon," Salloukh said. 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 to 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. A French naval carrier docked at Beirut's port on Saturday (August 26) carrying mechanical and logistical support equipment to help expand the U.N. peace contingent. The naval carrier, which was escorted by a French military vessel into the port, began unloading its cargo of bulldozers, military trucks and portable cranes, which will then be transported by land to Lebanon's border with Israel. 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 February 2007. The leadership would then pass to Italy, which has pledged up to 3,000 soldiers. U.N. officials say the force is urgently needed to preserve the truce which came into effect on August 14 after 34 days of fighting which killed more than 1,300 people, mostly Lebanese civilians. But European countries feared getting caught in the crossfire of any fresh hostilities between Israel and Hizbollah guerrillas and wanted assurances they would operate under robust enough rules to be able to defend themselves, diplomats said.

ITN Source | August 26, 2006

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