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SHAQRA, Lebanon-French soldiers take off their body armor but keep their FAMAS rifles slung over their backs before moving off on a leisurely foot patrol through this pro-Hezbollah Shi'ite Muslim village in south Lebanon.The troops, wearing the blue berets of U.N. peacekeepers, chat with shopkeepers in Shaqra, trying to win local friends without abandoning military muscle to deter would-be assailants."What I hope to do here is instill confidence," Lieutenant Colonel Marc Ollier, commander of the French contingent in the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), told Reuters.Without firing a shot in anger, U.N. troops have imparted a degree of stability that has enabled rebuilding and revival in a region wrecked by Israel's war with Hezbollah two years ago.The 13,000-strong force, whose mandate is up for renewal by the Security Council on Wednesday, says it has kept the area south of the Litani river free of any visible armed Hezbollah activity and helped the Lebanese army establish itself there.But the calm in UNIFIL's 2,500 square km (965 square mile) zone also owes much to decisions by Israel and its Shi'ite guerrilla foes not to renew hostilities which ceased on August 14, 2006 after a 34-day war seen by most Israelis as a failure.Tensions still simmer in a region festooned with yellow Hezbollah flags and posters of Imad Moughniyah, an undercover leader of the group assassinated in Syria in February-Hezbollah has blamed Israel and promised "earthshaking" revenge.Many Lebanese reproach UNIFIL for failing to secure an Israeli pullout from the Lebanese side of the divided village of Ghajar or a halt to daily Israeli military overflights.To read more go to:
As in the days of Noah...
