UNIFIL's Italian contingent relieves German Navy
Tue, Dec 12 2009
International delegates and military heads gathered at the Port of Beirut on Monday to witness the transfer of naval command between German and Italian contingents of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL). In a ceremony aboard German flagship FGS Schleswig-Holstein, Italian Rear Admiral Paolo Sandalli of Italy took over responsibility from Germany’s Rear Admiral Jurgen Mannhardt and will control UNIFIL’s Maritime Task Force (MTF) for the next six months.

UNIFIL Force Commander Major General Claudio Graziano lauded the performance of the MTF’s German contingent of the years, along with its coordination with the naval segment of the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF).

“The combined employment of LAF-Navy patrol craft and coastal radar in interdiction operations, the navy’s involvement in hailing merchant vessels and in the boarding and inspection of suspicious vessels at sea, including at night, have significantly contributed to securing Lebanon maritime borders,” he said during the handover ceremony.

The MTF’s six-ship fleet has hailed around 28,000 ships and referred almost 400 suspicious vessels to Lebanese authorities since commencing operations on October 15, 2006, in the wake of Lebanon’s July-August war with Israel.

Unlike UNIFIL’s ground-force mandate – which restricts troop operations to the area between the Blue Line and the Litani River – the MTF is permitted to patrol all of Lebanese territorial waters.

UNIFIL spokesman Andrea Tenenti said that the MTF’s primary task was to “secure [Lebanon’s] waters and to prevent arms and related material from entering Lebanon.”

This included the Antiguan-owned freighter, Francop, seized last month in waters off the coast of Cyprus by Israeli commandoes who claimed the vessel was transporting weapons en route to Hizbullah.

“This was held by UNIFIL,” said Tenenti, before the ship was handed over to Lebanese authorities. The ship and crew were questioned by the LAF while docked in Beirut.

The incident demonstrated the important work UNIFIL’s MTF division, as well as the benefits of cooperating with LAF troops, according to Tenenti.

UNIFIL’s mandate was recently extended for an additional 12 months by the Security Council. In his interim report on UNIFIL operations in Lebanon, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon singled out its naval contingent as being in need of additional personnel and equipment.

Ban identified a “gradual decrease in the number of available assets” the force had at its disposal. It is currently running at 50 percent of its original capacity of 12 vessels.

Ban wrote in August that “the significantly reduced number of assets, and especially the lack of frigates, meant that the Maritime Task Force is stretched to the limit.” He added that although additional contributions had been sought from 27 Member States, assistance in financing the MTL was negligible.

Tenenti told The Daily Star on Monday that the presence of UN naval troops in the eastern Mediterranean could only be maintained if support continued to be forthcoming.

“It’s up to the contributing countries to give to the mission,” he said, adding that advances in technology in recent years allowed the MTF to operate effectively, even with diminished troop numbers.

“At the moment we have ships operating throughout Lebanese territorial waters. These ships are equipped with higher levels of technological equipment and they can see any ships coming into Lebanese waters from a long way away,” he said.

As of July 15 this year, the MTF numbered 700 troops – roughly the same as when the force was first deployed, according to Tenenti.

“The numbers of troops haven’t changed much since the beginning,” he said.
Copyright Dailystar