China to boost peacekeepers in Lebanon to 1000 (Xinhua/Reuters) Updated: 2006-09-18 13:44
BEIJING -- China has decided to increase its peacekeeping force in Lebanon to
1,000 personnel, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said here Monday.
Wen made the remarks at a meeting with the press following his talks with
visiting Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi.
French President Jacques Chirac last week revealed China's peacekeeping
commitment after meeting Wen in Helsinki, but until now China had not specified
the size of its contribution to U.N. efforts to maintain peace in Lebanon.
"China has decided to increase its peacekeeping force in Lebanon to 1,000,"
Wen told reporters at a joint news conference in Beijing with Italian Prime
Minister Romano Prodi.
Around 200 Chinese engineers already work for the U.N. in Lebanon clearing
mines and unexploded ordnance. The U.N. peacekeeping force is being expanded to
uphold a shaky truce between Israel and Hizbollah guerrillas.
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