Italian battalion arrests two with explosives in Lebanon (Roundup)

Jan 11, 2009, 19:14 GMT

Beirut - The Italian contingent in the United Nations Interim Forces in Southern Lebanon (UNIFIL) has arrested two people disguised as cleaners trying to smuggle explosives into a UN base in southern Lebanon, Future Television reported Sunday.

'The explosives were hidden in a garbage truck trying to enter the Tenbine base in southern Lebanon, which is the main headquarter of the Italian contingent,' a UN source, who requested anonymity, told Deutsche Presse-Agentur, dpa.

'The truck was driven by two Lebanese men who are now (with) the Lebanese authorities,' the source said, adding that 'a small amount of explosives' was found in the truck.

A Lebanese security source confirmed the arrests, but refused to reveal the names of the two men.

Italy has 2,500 troops in southern Lebanon, the largest contingent working within UNIFIL.

The peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon grew from around 2,300 to 15,000, in accordance with a UN Security Council resolution in August 2006 that halted 33 days of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah.

Since December 2008, UNIFIL has taken extra precautionary measures after receiving threats from fundamentalist groups with close links to the al-Qaeda terrorist network.

On June 25, 2007, six UN peacekeepers from the Spanish battalion were killed and two others injured in a car bombing that targeted their patrol in southern Lebanon.