"I will tell you what UNIFIL troops in southern Lebanon are," Shi'ite
cleric Ali Al Amin, an opponent of Hizbullah who fled his home from Tyre in
May, said. "They are tourists, simple, faint-hearted and ignorant tourists."
In a May 17 interview with the Italian daily Corriere della Sera, Al
Amin said Hizbullah has intimidated UNIFIL and the Lebanese Army. He said
UNIFIL has ignored Hizbullah activity conducted outside peace-keeping bases.
"Everyone knows that the national army is too weak to take Hizbullah on,
and UNIFIL forces pretend not to see anything," Al Amin said. "Hizbullah has
built its own cable telephone system and is getting re-armed right outside
their [UNIFIL] bases. Can they really do nothing to stop it. Can't they
report it?"
Israel has complained of UNIFIL's refusal to confront Hizbullah or
report on its weapons smuggling in southern Lebanon. On Thursday, Israeli
leaders were expected to brief visiting French Foreign Minister Bernard
Kouchner on UNIFIL and the situation in southern Lebanon.
France maintains 2,000 soldiers in the UNIFIL mission. The UNIFIL
mandate expires in August 2008.
So far, none of the UNIFIL contingents has acknowledged difficulties
with the Hizbullah takeover of Lebanon. Italy and Germany also maintain
about 2,500 troops each in the peace-keeping mission.
"Our soldiers are today doing exactly what they were doing a month ago,"
Italian Defense Minister Ignazio La Russa, who was visiting troops on May
20, said. "I do not see a reason to drastically modify our goals or tasks at
the present time."