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UN troops in Lebanon ready to fight terror: Spanish PM
AFP, January 5,
2008
BLAT, Lebanon
(AFP) — Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero
said on Saturday his country's troops with the UN force in
Lebanon were ready to fight terrorism in order to achieve
peace in the region.
"Your mission
is to confront terrorism in this region, and it is something
that you could encounter in attempts to establish peace," he
told Spanish peacekeepers in the southern Lebanese village
of Blat.
"Our aim is to
reach a comprehensive and just peace" in the region, he
said, according to an Arabic translation of his speech in
Spanish during a ceremony at the Spanish contingent's
headquarters in Blat.
"Peace in this
region is directly linked to world peace, stability and the
fight against terrorism which has been the cause of many
crises around the world," he said.
Zapatero and
Spanish Defence Minister Jose Antonio Alonso arrived early
on Saturday on a surprise visit to meet Lebanese officials
and Spanish peacekeepers serving with the UN Interim Force
in Lebanon (UNIFIL).
The Spanish
premier met his Lebanese counterpart Fuad Siniora after
arriving at Beirut airport, officials said.
Spain has
nearly 1,100 troops in southeastern Lebanon near the border
with Israel as part of UNIFIL, which was boosted to more
than 13,000 soldiers after the 2006 war between Israel and
Lebanon's militant group Hezbollah.
Six members of
the Spanish contingent were killed last June 24 when a
booby-trapped car exploded as their patrol vehicle passed
by.
Unconfirmed
media reports said the attack was carried out by
Al-Qaeda-linked Islamists, and Alonso attributed it to "a
terrorist cell comprising possibly foreign individuals, that
is, non-Lebanese."
Last week, the
Spanish newspaper El Mundo said Syria's secret service has
threatened Spanish soldiers in Lebanon in a bid to block the
extradition of suspected arms dealer Monzer Al-Kassar to the
United States.
Spain has been
one of the leading countries trying to end Lebanon's
long-standing political crisis amid deep divisions between
the pro-Western ruling coalition and the opposition, backed
by Syria and Iran.
Spanish Foreign
Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos has made several trips to
Beirut and to powerful neighbour Syria in a bid to help
break the deadlock over the past few months.
Lebanon has
also been without a president since the mandate of
pro-Syrian Emile Lahoud expired on November 23 amid sharp
divisions between the ruling majority and the opposition,
which is backed by Syria and Iran. |
