[ppi] [ppiindia] Lebanese army troop carriers crossing the Litani River near Tyre on Thursday.

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http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/751713.html

       
      Lebanese army troop carriers crossing the Litani River near Tyre on 
Thursday. (AP) 
     
     

                  Last update - 11:43 17/08/2006 


                   
           
           
            Lebanese soldiers cross Litani River, will deploy on border within 
24 hours 
           
            By Yoav Stern, Haaretz Correspondent, and Agencies 
           
            Lebanese troops, backed by tanks and armored vehicles, began early 
Thursday to deploy south of the Litani River in line with a United Nations 
cease-fire plan to end fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, a senior military 
official said.

            The deployment will continue for a few days "to spread Lebanese 
government authority over all Lebanese territory, including south of the Litani 
River," the official said, on condition of anonymity because he was not 
authorized to make statements to the media.

            The first troops of a 2,500-strong brigade arrived Thursday morning 
in the southern Christian border town of Marjayoun, and troops are set to 
deploy along the border with Israel within 24 hours, a top army commander said.


           
           
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            The troops arrived in Marjayoun, just 7 kilometers from the border 
as part of the first deployment in decades to control the border area, long 
controlled by Hezbollah.

            "We should deploy within 24 hours along the Blue Line," the United 
Nations-demarcated border between Lebanon and Israel, General Charles Shikhani, 
the head of the forces in the Marjayoun area, told reporters. 

            The Israel Defense Forces also said Thursday that it had begun 
"transferring responsibility" over southern Lebanon with the deployment of the 
Lebanese army in the area.

            An Associated Press reporter saw about 40 military trucks and 
jeeps, carrying soldiers, equipment, luggage and plastic water tanks, heading 
to south Lebanon at around 4 A.M. (0100 GMT) Thursday. The trucks and jeeps 
hoisted Lebanese flags as they drove into central Beirut on their way to south 
Lebanon. 

            More than 100 trucks and 10 armored carriers mounted on flatbed 
trucks streamed across a newly installed metal bridge over the river, escorted 
by several other military vehicles. The bridge was built by the army to replace 
a structure that was bombed by Israel Air Force warplanes during the 34-day 
offensive.

            The column headed to the town of Marjayoun, around 8 km from the 
border. Some towed artillery pieces, others carried troops and equipment. A few 
UN peacekeepers watched them cross.

            Dozens of people lined roads where they passed, waving red and 
white Lebanese flags and throwing rice and flowers in celebration.

            "May God protect you," 64-year-old Khadeeja Sheet yelled at the 
passing soldiers. "We support nobody except for our army."

            Other units crossed the river at Qasmiyeh to deploy in the area 
around the port city of Tyre, the sources said.

            "What is better than this feeling we have today?" asked George 
Wanna, a 55-year-old father of four from the village of Qlai'a, one of the 
villages on the soldiers' route. "The army protects my home so that I can sleep 
comfortably."

            IDF begins handover to UNIFIL

            The IDF confirmed said early Thursday that its troops have handed 
over some of their positions to the United Nations force operating in the area.

            "Following a joint agreement of members of the IDF, UNIFIL [United 
Nations Interim Force in Lebanon] and the Lebanese army, the process of 
transferring authority has begun," an IDF statement said.

            Under the UN cease-fire agreement, Israel was to transfer control 
of its positions in southern Lebanon to the UN force, who would then turn it 
over to the Lebanese army.

            More than 50 percent of the areas Israel holds have been 
transferred already, the IDF said. The area extends north and east of the town 
of Marjayoun and another area further west.

            "The process will be carried out in stages and is conditional on 
the reinforcement of UNIFIL and the ability of the Lebanese army to take 
effective control of the area," the statement said.

            The Security Council resolution authorized up to 15,000 UN 
peacekeepers to help 15,000 Lebanese troops extend their authority throughout 
south Lebanon, which Hezbollah controls, and called on IDF troops to withdraw 
"in parallel." 

            The aim is to create a buffer zone free of Hezbollah fighters 
between the Litani River, 30 kilometers (18 miles) north of Israel, and the 
UN-drawn border.

            There are currently some 2,000 UNIFIL troops in the area.

            Lebanese cabinet won't force Hezbollah to disarm

            According to the cabinet decision, Hezbollah will not disarm in 
southern Lebanon, but its members will refrain from carrying weapons in public. 
The agreement was reached following deliberations with Hezbollah 
representatives that lasted days.

            The Lebanese government's decision contradicts United Nations 
Security Council Resolution 1701, reached last week, which determines that the 
area south of the Litani River will be free of arms, aside from those held by 
Lebanese soldiers and UNIFIL troops. The cabinet made the decision after 
Hezbollah rejected all demands to disarm south of the Litani.

            "The weapons of the resistance are the only ones, of all Arabs, 
that succeeded in standing up to Israel and defeating it. No one can take away 
the weapons of the resistance, certainly not by force," pro-Syrian Lebanese 
President Emile Lahoud, who headed the cabinet meeting, said. "The Lebanese 
army will deploy [in the south] and will be for all the Lebanese," he told 
reporters.

            Al-Jazeera reported Wednesday that Hezbollah rejected all 
proposals, including that it transfer its weapons to the Lebanese army, 
transfer its weapons to UNIFIL or allow the Lebanese army to search the 
organization's positions for weapons. A compromise was reached, according to 
which Hezbollah will not conduct military activities in southern Lebanon. 

            The government decision does not mention collecting Hezbollah 
weapons, but only that there will not be an "armed military presence" of 
Hezbollah in the south, or of any factor aside from the Lebanese army or UNIFIL.

            Hezbollah's top official in south Lebanon, Sheik Nabil Kaouk, told 
reporters in Tyre that the group welcomes the Lebanese army's additional 
deployment in the south. 

            "Just like in the past, Hezbollah had no visible military presence 
and there will not be any visible presence now," he said.

            That was the strongest indication that the guerrillas would not 
disarm in the region or withdraw, but rather melt into the local population and 
hide their weapons.

            The United States welcomed the Lebanese decision to deploy troops. 
"It shows their commitment by a democratically elected government to holding 
the peace, to holding this cessation of violence, their willingness to act in 
accordance with the United Nations Security Council resolutions," State 
Department spokesman Gonzalo Gallegos told reporters
           
     


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