LEBANON: Lebanese troops leave Beirut and are deployed in south as part of resolution to end violence

Lebanese troops left Beirut and headed to southern Lebanon on Thursday (August 17, 2006) to join U.N. peacekeepers in taking control of Hizbollah strongholds as Israeli forces withdraw following their 34-day war with the guerrillas. Some towed artillery pieces, others carried troops and equipment. Lebanese troops crossed the Litani River, about 20 km (13 miles) from the Israeli border, from several points, security sources and Reuters witnesses said. 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 (5 miles) from the Israeli border. Other units crossed the river at Qasmiyeh to deploy in the area around the port city of Tyre, the sources said. A few peacekeepers from UNIFIL, the U.N. force in Lebanon, watched them cross. At around the same time, the Israeli army said it had begun "transferring responsibility" over southern Lebanon. Eventually, 15,000 Lebanese soldiers are due to move into the area to join an equal number of U.N. troops, charged with controlling the area to stop Hizbollah menacing Israel. The United Nations has said it hopes 3,500 new U.N. troops can join the 2,000-strong UNIFIL force in Lebanon within two weeks, while Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Shimon Peres said on Wednesday he expected most of the 15,000 Lebanese troops to be in place by the end of the month. It was not immediately clear what the Shi'ite Muslim group's influence would be after the deployment. The Lebanese government says its army will not tolerate any armed group in southern Lebanon, but it has been vague on any withdrawal of Hizbollah's fighters or the decommissioning of rockets they rained on northern Israel during the conflict. The deployment of the Lebanese troops is a response to a U.N. resolution that ended the violence this week. 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. Following the truce, access to the wreckage to an Israeli helicopter shot down by Hizbollah guerrillas in Yater was possible. Several soldiers where killed in the crash.

ITN Source | August 17, 2006

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