UN peacekeepers begin final Lebanon deployment

United Nations peacekeepers in Lebanon have begun their final deployment in the south of the country, two months after Israel ended its occupation of the area.

Armoured personnel carriers left the UNIFIL international base in Naqoura the day after President Emile Lahoud gave the United Nations permission to complete its deployment.

A UN spokesman said the process would take a few days while UN troops set up a new infrastructure and remove mines.

Last week, about two-hundred UN peacekeepers took up their first positions along the border.

Lebanon had delayed the UN deployment several times because it was not satisfied that all Israeli incursions had ended.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service