Special report: Israel-Lebanon Conflicts   [ Video ][Gallery]

Special report: Israel, Lebanon agree on ceasefire

    LISBON, Aug. 30 (Xinhua) -- Portugal's Defense Minister Nuno Severiano Teixeira said Wednesday that his country would send 140 troops to the peacekeeping UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).

    "They will be on the ground but they are not a fighting force; they will be working on reconstruction so the risk they face is moderate," Teixeira said, adding that the troops would be deployed on Oct. 14.

    Under the UN Security Council Resolution 1701, UNIFIL is tasked with monitoring the cease-fire between Israel and the Lebanon-based guerilla group, Hezbollah, which took effective on Aug. 14 after a 34-day conflict.

    The largest groups of immediate UNIFIL reinforcements to have been offered include those from Italy, with nearly 2,500 soldiers, and France with 2,000. They will bolster the UN peacekeeping mission that has been based in the area for many years.

    The UN resolution ultimately calls for 15,000 UNIFIL troops and for the same number of Lebanese army forces to take over the areas in southern Lebanon from which Israeli troops have withdrawn. Enditem