THE grey helicopter touched down in a cloud of stinging dust and sand on the landing pad beside the beach stretching south of Tyre and disgorged a squad of bluehelmeted Italian commandos.

They were among the first of 800 Italian soldiers to arrive in south Lebanon over the weekend to reinforce a United Nations peacekeeping mission, known as Unifil, and ensure that a three-week ceasefire between Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas and Israel continues to hold.

Resolution 1701, which ushered in the ceasefire on August 14, called for 15,000 troops but unease over the rules of engagement delayed the arrival of all but 2,000. Lebanon has a grim reputation as a graveyard for wellintentioned international peacekeeping missions, and European countries were worried that their soldiers would be trapped between warring Hezbollah and Israeli forces.

But Jean-Marie Guehenno, the UN Under-Secretary for Peacekeeping Operations, who was in Tyre to observe the arrival of the Italian troops, told The Times: “The United Nations of 2006 is not the United Nations of ten years ago. We have drawn lessons from past experience. We have robust rules of engagement so that we can defend ourselves and not be humiliated anymore.”

The Italian troops were ferried in from five ships by helicopter after high seas prevented a beach landing. “It will be a very good experience for us. It’s a new country for me and I look forward to meeting the Lebanese people,” Lieutenant Colonel Max Molinas said.

Italy aims to deploy 2,450 soldiers in south Lebanon, making it the largest contingent. France has said that it will send 2,000, and Spain and Poland will make up the total number to 7,000.

Unifil officers admit that a full strength of 15,000 peacekeepers is “probably overkill”, especially since the Lebanese Army is also deploying 15,000 troops into the border district.

They say that stability in south Lebanon is largely dependent on the political will of Hezbollah and Israel, rather than the actions of Unifil. Israel has said that it will withdraw its last soldiers when Unifil’s numbers reach 5,000.

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