LEBANON: Belgian Defence Minister Andre Flahaut visits area in southern Lebanon where Belgian troops will be positioned

Belgian Defence Minister Andre Flahaut headed to the village of Tibinin in southern Lebanon on Sunday (September 24) to survey the area where Belgian troops will be positioned when they arrive to join UNFIL (United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon) peacekeepers. Flahaut arrived in Beirut early on Sunday where he first met with his Lebanese counterpart Elias El-Murr and confirmed the arrival of Belgian troops on September 27. Flahout was welcomed and saluted by the UNFIL troops positioned in Tibinin and generals showed him a map pointing out the exact location where the Belgian troops will stay. UNIFIL is charged by the United Nations to maintain a ceasefire between Hizbollah and Israel following a 34-day war. Flahaut said he hoped the Belgian troops would play a useful role in the region and that they came to the area as friends. "There are people here who will be transported to Tyre and this will be a very useful step. When we (Belgian troops) settle here, and when we come to see a friend you bring a present, as long as this present is useful...I believe that I have had the confirmation that it will be a very useful present for the region," said Flahaut. More than 300 Belgian troops will arrive in the next few days to fulfil their tasks of demining, providing medical help and helping with reconstruction, Flahaut said after his meeting with El-Murr. The expanded force, known as UNIFIL II, could eventually reach 15,000 troops to join a similar number of Lebanese army troops in the south under the Security Council resolution that halted the fighting on August 14.

ITN Source | September 25, 2006

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