French peacekeepers begin patrols on border

YAROUN, Lebanon -- An advance team of French peacekeepers wove around rubble and minefields Wednesday as it made its way through destroyed villages on one of its first reconnaissance missions in southern Lebanon.

The patrol -- seven men in a jeep and an armored vehicle freshly painted white with U.N. letters on the side -- kept a wide berth from dug-in Israeli tanks positioned in the hilltops.

Such patrols are a key test of whether the U.N. force will be able to guarantee the cease-fire that ended the 34-day war between Israel and Hezbollah guerrillas.

For now, the U.N. troops are just trying to find their way around.

"Maps aren't reliable, bombings and tank trenches have changed the terrain, so we have to see for ourselves where we can set up camp," said Capt. Francois Quiot, part of the French engineering corps conducting the mission.

France is slated to take command of the peacekeeping operation, which is expected to eventually number 15,000. Italy has sent 1,000 soldiers so far, bringing the international force's troop strength Wednesday to about 3,250. France has contributed 250 troops and another 1,800 are to begin arriving Saturday.

A smattering of French flags flapped in the wind Wednesday atop buildings and lampposts among hundreds of Hezbollah banners in the village of Yaroun. Women waved to the soldiers as they drove by, and children ran along the road cheering and catching candy tossed by the peacekeepers.

"Overall, the villagers seem quite welcoming," said Quiot. "A group of youngsters threw stones at a patrol yesterday, but on the whole, people here seem relieved to see us."

Under the cease-fire agreement, 15,000 Lebanese troops are due to deploy in south Lebanon to create a buffer zone with Israel and open the way for a full Israeli withdrawal. But the French troops said they hadn't been in contact with the Lebanese army, or been given much direction for their mission.

"It's in the very early stages for now, and we don't really know how we're meant to operate," said Col. Manuel Gauthier as his patrol drove by a Lebanese army checkpoint where soldiers greeted them with waves and smiles.

France, the former colonial ruler, is popular in Lebanon. Many Lebanese waved French flags they used this summer to cheer France in its failed bid for the soccer World Cup.

"We're very happy to see the French and Italians arrive," said Hala Ezzedine, 31, whose home was badly damaged in the fighting. "We know the Europeans understand us -- not like America, which thinks we're all terrorists and gives bombs to Israel to use against us."

Closer to the border, dug-in Israeli positions could be seen camouflaged on hilltops as the peacekeepers moved along roads rutted with tank tracks leading to Israel.

Scattered sheep and cattle carcasses lay rotting in fields littered with mines and unexploded shells.

"If we meet an Israeli patrol, I'd be happy to stop and have a chat," Quiot said. "But they don't seem to be visible."

At a small U.N. post in the barren no man's land along the border, a peacekeeper said the surrounding hilltops were occupied by Israeli troops.

"We see them patrolling every day, and we look at each other through binoculars," said Sgt. Patrick Aryee of Ghana, which contributed troops to the previous 2,000-strong, 28-year-old U.N. mission.

"When they saw your patrol arriving, they camouflaged themselves and now you can't see them," he told the French officers.

A few dozen yards away, three Israeli civilians could be seen fixing a barbed-wire border fence. The lush forest and farmland on the Israeli side were a sharp contrast to the dusty, war-ravaged Lebanese side.

Israel says some 5,000 of its soldiers are still in Lebanon and will withdraw when at least 5,000 peacekeepers have arrived to secure the zone from Hezbollah guerrillas.

"Deployment here is not going to be easy," said Gauthier. He said the hilly, rocky terrain would make it difficult for the French tanks to take up positions.

On Wednesday, France's military loaded 13 Leclerc tanks onto ships bound for Lebanon to join the U.N. force.

Since the war ended, Hezbollah fighters are no where to be seen.

"For now, I think there will just be a period of observation on each side," Gauthier said. "After that, we don't know."