Italian troops arrive in Lebanon

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Italian troops have begun landing in Lebanon as part of the first major contingent of a toughened UN force.

About 120 Italian marines landed on a beach at Tyre, part of a group of 800 troops to arrive over the weekend.

The full 15,000-strong deployment, to monitor a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah fighters, is expected to take two months.

Israel still holds some parts of south Lebanon and says it will not go until 5,000 peacekeepers are in place.

Israel and Hezbollah fought a 34-day war sparked by the capture of two Israeli soldiers. The UN-backed truce came into effect on 14 August.

Mandate

The first Italian troops landed in rubber dinghies just after dawn on Saturday.

[Unifil] is strengthened with stronger rules of engagement Gen Alain Pellegrini

Throughout the morning, helicopters ferried troops ashore from Italian naval vessels in the Mediterranean.

The BBC's Chris Morris, in Tyre, says the UN troops will be broadly welcomed by local people, although there is lingering resentment about the time it took for the international community to act.

The delay mainly concerned difficulties over the mandate of the UN force.

The commander of the force, known as Unifil, Gen Alain Pellegrini of France, says it will be stronger than the UN monitoring force that has been in Lebanon since 1978.

"It is strengthened with stronger rules of engagement," he said. "We will have more people, more equipment. We have the possibility to use force to implement our mission."

Gen Pellegrini said he expected 5,000 soldiers to be in place within two weeks.

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said Israel should withdraw fully when that happens.

Europe is providing the bulk of the UN force, with Italy expected to contribute 3,000 soldiers, France 2,000 and Spain more than 1,000.

Indonesia said on Saturday it would provide 1,000 troops after Israel dropped objections to peacekeepers from some countries that did not recognise its existence.

The UN force will support the Lebanese army deployment in the south but will not patrol the Syrian border nor will it act specifically to disarm Hezbollah.

More than 1,100 Lebanese and about 160 Israelis died in the conflict.