Italy hands over UN Lebanon naval force to Germany

[tocqueville]

Sun Oct 15, 7:44 AM ET

BEIRUT (AFP) - The Italian navy has handed over to German command the UN naval force tasked with intercepting arms shipments along Lebanon's coastline following Israel's war with the Shiite movement Hezbollah.

Italy's Admiral Giuseppe De Giorgi passed command of the beefed-up force to Germany's Admiral Andreas Krause during a ceremony aboard Italy's flagship Garibaldi aircraft carrier in Beirut harbour.

The ceremony was also attended by United Nations Interim Forces in Lebanon (UNIFIL) commander Major General Alain Pellegrini who hailed the Italians' mission -- which helped end a crippling Israeli blockade of Lebanon -- as "a real success".

Germany has agreed to send up to 2,400 military personnel to Lebanon in the country's first mission in the Middle East since World War II.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20061015/wl_mideast_afp/mideastconflictlebanonitalygermanyun;_ylt=AuekHBSMXd2LU7Ny7spXZZyBzdAF;_ylu=X3oDMTBjMHVqMTQ4BHNlYwN5bnN1YmNhdA--

interesting pictures in the slide show...