BEIRUT, 17 August 2006 — Lebanon yesterday decided to send its army to the south for the first time in decades, as Israel withdraws its troops and foreign powers scramble to strengthen a small UN peacekeeping force.
The government decided at an extraordinary meeting to start the deployment of 15,000 troops in bomb-battered south Lebanon from today, Finance Minister Jihad Azour told AFP.
“The government took the decision to send the army to the south. It will start tomorrow, Thursday,” he said.
The deployment, the first in decades along the border area with Israel which has long been under Hezbollah’s control, comes after a UN-brokered cease-fire took effect on Monday to end the bloody monthlong conflict in Lebanon.
The UN resolution paving the way for the truce called for a Lebanese Army deployment in the south, along with the strengthening of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) and the pullout of Israeli troops.
Lebanese and Israeli Army officers also held a new meeting with UNIFIL officials yesterday to coordinate the Israeli withdrawal and subsequent Lebanese deployment.
A senior military official said Lebanese troops were working on rebuilding bridges and roads and gathering equipment just north of the Litani River, awaiting government go-ahead for a deployment up to the border with Israel. “These are preliminary, preparatory phases for the southward deployment in which the army will first take up position in areas north of the Litani,” which runs mostly some 30 kilometers (20 miles) from the border with Israel.
The Litani is the natural northern barrier of an area that has long been outside the control of Lebanese armed forces and it also served as the strategic limit for Israeli military operations inside its northern neighbor.
“On Thursday, the bridges and roads will be usable. We are also gathering forces and equipment north of the Litani, awaiting the order to deploy,” the official said.
On Monday, Defense Minister Elias Murr said the deployment will take place over five or six days. He said UN forces will deploy in areas evacuated by withdrawing Israeli troops before the Lebanese Army fills the gap and controls territory until the border with Israel.
Israel’s Army chief Dan Halutz agreed yesterday on the modalities of the transfer, which he said would take between a week and 10 days.
UNIFIL is due to be bolstered with troops from several countries which have sent diplomats to Lebanon yesterday, including the French, Turkish and Malaysian foreign ministers. After talks with Lebanese officials, French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said his country was ready to participate in a bolstered UN force only after the Lebanese Army deploys in the area.
“France is ready to participate in a strengthened UNIFIL, but the Lebanese Army should deploy in southern Lebanon first,” he said after meeting Lebanese Foreign Minister Fawzi Sallukh.
“France considers that it is indispensable that many other countries participate in this strengthened UNIFIL,” he said. Israel launched a massive offensive against Lebanon to crush Hezbollah after it captured two soldiers on July 12 in a bid to secure an exchange of prisoners.
