10/12/2011 12:28
Paris won’t stop peacekeeping actions
A roadside bomb wounded five French peacekeepers in southern Lebanon on Friday, in the third attack this year on United Nations forces deployed near the frontier with Israel, the Reuters reports.
The official, who requested anonymity, said the bomb was hidden under dirt on the side of the road and detonated as the soldiers drove through an intersection on the town's southern outskirts. Andrea Tenenti, spokesman for the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (Unifil), said that the five wounded soldiers were treated at the scene and later taken to hospital, hindustantimes.com reports.
The office of Lebanese President Michel Sleiman issued a statement denouncing the attack, which he said was aimed at prompting France to pull its troops from the country.
"This terrorist attack is aimed at pressuring these troops to leave Lebanon and to pave the way for (further) terrorists acts," he said.
Prime Minister Najib Mikati also condemned the attack as did French foreign minister Alain Juppe who vowed his country would not be intimidated. "I condemn in the strongest terms the cowardly attack that was carried out against Unifil this morning, wounding five French peacekeepers," Juppe said in a statement.
France is "determined to continue its involvement with Unifil (and) will not be intimidated by such vile acts," he added.