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200 peacekeepers sent to Beirut

(AP)
Updated: 2006-09-09 16:01

A ship carrying 200 French troops docked Saturday at Beirut's port as the soldiers prepared to head to south Lebanon to join the U.N. peacekeeping force monitoring the cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah guerrillas.

The amphibious ship La Foudre arrived around 8:30 a.m. (0530 GMT) and soldiers began filing out shortly afterward, witnesses and an AP photographer said. The ship, which sailed from the Mediterranean port of Toulon on September 4, is also carrying some 100 armored personnel carriers, trucks, weaponry and equipment for the troops.

France, which is temporarily leading the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Lebanon, known as UNIFIL, has already contributed 250 troops. President Jacques Chirac said on August 24 that France would increase its contribution to the U.N. force to 2,000 troops. Additional troops were expected to arrive in the next few weeks. The entire UNIFIL force is expected to increase to 15,000 soldiers.

France's contribution is to include Leclerc tanks, surface-to-surface artillery, short-range anti-aircraft missiles and radar.

The expanded force is expected to help the Lebanese army step up government authority along the Lebanese-Israeli border. Fighting between Israel and Lebanon-based Hezbollah guerrillas ended after 34 days on August 14 under a U.N.-brokered cease-fire.

On Friday, a combined task force of French, Italian and Greek warships began patrolling Lebanon's Mediterranean coast, a mission it will carry out for about two months until a longer-term force of German vessels moves in.

French military officials said a dozen vessels could take part in the initial operation, patrolling six miles off the coast while Lebanese military vessels operate closer to shore.

International officials are also helping Lebanese authorities at ports, land border crossings and Beirut's airport to ensure Hezbollah guerrillas are not rearmed.