Italian soldiers arrived in Lebanon on Saturday, part of the first large contingent of international troops sent to boost the U.N. force keeping the peace between Israel and Hizbullah.
Some 150 Italian marines arrived in the port city of Tyre aboard U.N. helicopters. Their first task was to secure two beaches where the remainder of an 880-strong battalion of soldiers will land over the weekend. Nearly 200 Italian troops are expected Sunday in Beirut.
The commander of the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon known as UNIFIL, French Gen. Alain Pellegrini, said the expanded peacekeeping mission marked a break from the past. "We have to forget the previous UNIFIL. The previous UNIFIL is dead and the new one is very different," Pellegrini told reporters. "It is strengthened with stronger rules of engagement. We will have more people, more equipment. We have the possibility to use force to implement our mission."
Also Saturday, Indonesia said it would dispatch up to 1,000 soldiers to southern Lebanon by the month's end, after Israel dropped objections to its participation in the force. Israel had said it did not want Indonesia to be part because it did not have relations with the Jewish state.
Pellegrini said the cease-fire is holding, "but it's fragile, any incident can escalate." He said thIsraeli jets conducting reconnaissance missions have repeatedly violated Lebanese air space. He also said Israeli forces had crossed the so-called Blue Line that separates Lebanon from its southern neighbor, but gave no details.
Pellegrini said disarming Hizbullah "is a national issue and this has to be solved by the Lebanese authorities. My mission is to keep a well defined area which is between the Litani River and the Blue Line clear of any weapons."
