UN-backed naval force patrol on Lebanese coasts

A UN-backed joint naval force has started patrolling the Lebanese coasts on Friday afternoon, and Israel would lift its sea blockade of Lebanon within hours, Lebanese Future TV reported.

The naval force, composed of the French, Italians and Greeks, began patrolling the Lebanese coasts under UN mandate at 12:30 p.m. (0930 GMT), the TV said.

Meanwhile, Lebanese local press quoted French Maj. Gen. Alain Pellegrini, commander of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), as saying that he was informed by Israeli officials and the Italian commander leading the naval task force that the Israeli sea blockade on Lebanon had ended.

The Lebanese government was informed by UNIFIL about the lifting of the sea blockade, an anonymous source in the prime minister's office told Xinhua, though there was no immediate official comment.

The Israeli government confirmed later on Friday that its sea blockade on Lebanon was lifted and the monitoring of Lebanese coastline handed over to a UN-backed joint naval force.

"The Italian-led task force will continue to enforce the international embargo against the supply of armaments to Hezbollah, " said Miri Eisin, spokeswoman of the Prime Minister's Office.

But Israel would reserve the right to stop arms smuggle along the Lebanon-Syria border, a senior source of the office said.

The move followed Israel's lifting of an air embargo on Thursday, fully ending the Israeli air, land and sea blockade that had continued despite a UN-brokered ceasefire agreement on Aug. 14 that ended the 34-day-long Israel-Hezbollah fighting.

In order to prevent Hezbollah (Party of God) from rearming, Israel imposed the air, land and sea blockade on Lebanon shortly after the fighting erupted on July 12 when two Israeli soldiers were captured and eight other killed by Hezbollah in cross-border attacks.

The war, resulted in killing 1,200 Lebanese, mostly civilians and 160 Israelis, mostly soldiers, also crushed Lebanon's economy, with the blockade almost completely isolating the country from the outside world, according to media reports.

Severe international efforts are under way to ensure a full implementation of UN Resolution 1701.

German forces are expected to arrive to Lebanon in order to lead the international naval patrols in two weeks time, while UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said that as many as 5,000 UN peacekeepers were due to deploy in Lebanon by mid-September.

Source: Xinhua