CYPRUS: German troops arrive in Cyprus to set up supply base for Lebanon patrol operation

A group of German support troops arrived in Cyprus on Monday (October 2) to begin setting up a supply and repair base on the island for the German naval force to be involved in a UN peacekeeping operation off Lebanon's coast. The detachment of some 40 support personnel arrived at Larnaca airport and would be participating in the establishment of a re-supply and repair base at Cyprus' Limassol port, a German military spokesman said. In the following days a German force of more than 1000 naval troops would arrive in Cyprus on two military frigates, two supply ships and four fast patrol boats to prepare to move into Lebanon's coastal waters as part of a patrol operation for the U.N. peacekeeping mission. The base to be set up in Cyprus at the island's southern Limassol port will be a re-supply unit for the forces and to conduct repairs for ships or equipment participating in the operation. The port was also used for mass evacuations of foreign nationals in the summer months from Lebanon during fighting between Isreali forces and Hizbollah fighters. In September Germany's cabinet approved the deployment of 2,400 naval troops to Lebanon, a mission which German Chancellor Angela Merkel described as "historic", as it is the first presence of German fighters in the Middle East since World War II. Germany has been cautious over committing forces abroad because of its Nazi past, and even more so in the Middle East and Jewish memories of the Nazi Holocaust. The troops will patrol the Lebanese coast to prevent weapons from reaching Hizbollah guerrillas. Germany had refused to send ground troops for fear they could be drawn into fighting with Israeli forces. On Sunday, Israel's army withdrew from all of south Lebanon except a small border village, as part of a handover to the Lebanese army and U.N. peacekeepers under a UN ceasefire agreement that ended a 34 day war with Hizbollah fighters. More than 5,000 international peacekeeping troops are now on the ground in Lebanon to support a previous 2,000-strong U.N. Interim Force (UNIFIL). UN Resolution 1701, which ended the fighting, sees the force reaching 13,000 more troops. A host of other countries will join in the sea patrolling operation along with German ships, including Sweden, Greece, Netherlands and Denmark. Germany has close to 3000 troops in Afghanistan as part of a NATO peacekeeping mission which was extended for another year in September, as well as 1000 peacekeepers in Africa, mainly in the Congo, and 4000 in the Balkans.

ITN Source | October 3, 2006

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