Belgium will command the maritime operation in Lebanon

(BRUSSELS2) Belgium should take command, from March to May 2009, of the maritime component of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) with the frigate "Leopold I". At least, that's what Belgian Defense Minister Pieter De Crem proposed to the UN. The international maritime force (Maritime Task Force, MTF) of the United Nations cruising off the coast of Lebanon is mainly responsible for preventing the maritime smuggling of weapons intended for the Lebanese Shiite movement of Hezbollah, after the end of the war which opposed it to Israel in the summer of 2006.

First Lebanon then Atalanta. This mission should be carried out by the frigate "Leopold I" (F-930), presented as the "new flagship of the Belgian Navy", which is currently completing an operation off Lebanon for a period of three months, from September to December. , with a crew of 157 sailors (returning to Zeebrugge on December 19). Another frigate could then (the Louise Marie) could come and serve in the Atalanta operation against the pirates during the third period (August-November).

Reduced means to deal with the Battlegroup. Belgium decided, at the beginning of November, to extend its presence in the cedar country until the end of December 2009, but with reduced staff from 335 to 216 people. The decrease relates in particular to the field hospital deployed in Tebnine (South Lebanon), the withdrawal of which is necessary to contribute to the European "battle group" ("EU Battle Group") of which the Belgian army will take command in the second half of 2009.