LEBANON: Lebanese troops deployed in the south , link up with U.N. peacekeepers to take control of Hizbollah strongholds

Lebanese troops deployed in south Lebanon on Thursday (August 17), linking up with U.N. peacekeepers to take control of Hizbollah strongholds as Israeli forces withdraw after their 34-day war with the guerrillas. Hizbollah fighters melted away as Lebanese troops crossed the Litani River, about 20 km (13 miles) from the Israeli border, security sources and Reuters witnesses said. A U.N.-backed truce halted the fighting on Monday (August 14) after the Security Council adopted a resolution calling for the Lebanese army and an expanded U.N. force of up to 15,000 troops to deploy in the south and replace Hizbollah and Israeli forces. More than 100 trucks, troop carriers and jeeps streamed across a makeshift bridge on the Litani to the mainly Christian town of Marjayoun, about 8 km from the Israeli border. Some members of UNIFIL, the 2,000-strong U.N. peacekeeping force already in Lebanon, watched them cross. Dozens of people lined roads, waving red and white Lebanese flags and throwing rice and flowers in celebration. "I'm very relaxed and happy now and I believe in my children's future. We here to welcome the army and look...listen... to the sound of the bells ringing," said one local resident as she threw rice at passing troops. The Israeli army said it had begun "transferring responsibility" in the south in a staged process that was "conditional on the reinforcement of UNIFIL and the ability of the Lebanese army to take effective control of the area." At the military base in Marjayoun, a ceremony was held to mark the deployment of troops to the south. Meanwhile, more soldiers arrived at Tyre port on military ships, ready to join those already in southern Lebanon. There was no sign of Hizbollah guerrillas. Even unarmed members of the group seen on previous days riding around on mopeds and giving instructions to journalists and residents in the south had disappeared. Hizbollah has promised to cooperate with Lebanese and U.N. troops. But the Shi'ite Muslim group has made clear it will not disarm or leave the south. Nor has it pledged to remove the rocket launchers it used to bombard Israel during the conflict. The U.N. resolution called for an arms embargo against Hizbollah, which fired nearly 4,000 rockets at northern Israel, but did not spell out how it would be enforced. In the southern village of Tbnin, troops detonated munitions littering the area. Officials said the unexploded bombs have killed or wounded at least 18 people in the south. Two children were killed by a cluster bomb explosion in the southern town of Naqoura on Thursday, U.N. officials said. Troops set up base in abandoned buildings and hospitals. "We want the deployment of troops in the quickest possible way. People want to rest. Every ten years there is a war. We build, and invest years and then after ten years, there is another war. Our life has been like this since 1948," said Khalil Barze, from the battered southern village of Bint Jbeil. Two U.N. envoys, Vijay Nambiar and Terje Roed-Larsen, were due in Lebanon and Israel to assess implementation of the truce. The United Nations has said it hopes 3,500 new U.N. troops can join UNIFIL within two weeks. At least 1,110 people in Lebanon and 157 Israelis were killed in the conflict that erupted after Hizbollah captured two Israeli soldiers in a cross-border raid on July 12.

ITN Source | August 18, 2006

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