French troops in Lebanon to boost UN force

French soldiers from the engineering unit arrive at the Lebanese port of Naqura to join the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (Unifil) on the border with Israel yesterday as the first troops to reinforce UN peacekeepers amid calls for France and other European nations to step up their contributions. PHOTO: AFP

Navy commandos were the first to disembark from the force-projection and command ship Mistral anchored off Naqura, which is about three kilometres (two miles) from the Israeli border.

France's reinforcements arrived under a United Nations resolution that ended a 34-day war between Israel and the Shia Hezbollah militia, which killed 1,150 people, mostly civilians, in Lebanon. Hezbollah killed 160 Israelis, mostly soldiers.

The French commandos, who landed in rigid-hulled inflatable boats, secured the area before landing craft moved in and unloaded a plastic carpet on the sand to allow the unloading of armoured troop transports, jeeps and excavation equipment.

Commander Bertrand Bonneau said 49 members of an engineering unit were arriving Saturday ahead of 150 others who would leave for Naqura Sunday from the French port of Toulon, and who should arrive from August 25.

"It acts as a first stage... which illustrates the French presence and engagement in Lebanon," Bonneau said.

"All these men will be placed under UN command and reinforce the 200 French soldiers already in Unifil," he said.

"When the French government gives the order to deploy we will be ready."

France's contribution has fallen far short of the major commanding role that many had foreseen for the former colonial power in Lebanon.

US President George W. Bush said he hoped France would reconsider its decision and dispatch more troops, noting that "there have been different signals coming out of France."

Britain's The Independent newspaper wrote in a Saturday editorial that "France seems to have lost its nerve" by being willing to contribute only 200 troops.

UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which governs the ceasefire, called for Israeli troops to withdraw from south Lebanon in tandem with deployment of Lebanese troops and a beefed-up UN peacekeeping force in the area.

The United Nations has been urging European countries to provide troops to the peacekeeping force, as the Beirut government moved ahead with its deployment.