The UN Interim Force in Lebanon early Saturday began deployment along the full length of Lebanon's border with Israel, finally embarking on the mission it was tasked with 22 years ago.
UNIFIL soldiers took up position in the space of an hour in five border villages, an AFP correspondent saw.
Units of a Fijian battalion, each consisting of 25 men, three military vehicles and a jeep, deployed in four villages in the western sector of the zone formerly occupied by Israel while a unit from the Indian battalion deployed in a village in the central sector
UNIFIL received the go-ahead from Beirut on Friday to deploy throughout the zone occupied by Israel until it withdrew in May.
UNIFIL was set up under United Nations Security Council Resolution 425 of March 1978 to enter south Lebanon as soon as Israel withdrew from the area, which it invaded in 1978.
UNIFIL said Friday the main objective of the deployment was to "instill confidence among local inhabitants." -- YARINE, Lebanon (AFP)
© 2000 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
