Word: southern
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...Fiji Islanders and the Irish are still on the way, but already on the ground in southern Lebanon are some 4,500 blue-helmeted soldiers from France, Norway, Canada, Senegal, Nigeria, Iran and Nepal. These polyglot forces make up the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL). Its mandate: to form a buffer zone between the Israeli army and the guerrillas of the Palestine Liberation Organization. Last week TIME Cairo Correspondent Dean Brelis and Jerusalem Bureau Chief Donald Neff separately visited the region for a glimpse of what U.N. Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim has called "the most difficult peace-keeping...
...soldiers are the Norwegians-privates make $700 a month -but they are not happy. They are reservists who never dreamed they would be called up for active duty. "We should have known," says one. "When we went on maneuvers last summer, we had a training exercise about being in southern Lebanon, and here we are. You can't take a walk outside the perimeter here because you could be picked up by the Palestinians. About the only thing to look at is the damned goats, and you wonder if someone is using them as a cover to sneak...
...Tyre pocket, an area along the coastal plains of southern Lebanon that lies between the Israeli line and the Litani, is under the control of the Palestinians. This became clear when, in response to a request to visit Tyre, a U.N. liaison officer warned: "You could try it, but you might be arrested. They would arrest anyone from Israel." Palestinian troops patrol the pocket, set up roadblocks, question and detain whomever they want. The only way to travel, suggested the U.N. official, was to get rid of anything-papers, money, candy wrappers, that would indicate you were from Israel...
...complicating problem is that the Israelis are continuing to arm the Christian Lebanese along the southern border. When they eventually withdraw from the remaining territory they occupy, the Israelis hope to leave behind them a buffer zone of Christian villages. So, while the Christians are getting stronger, the Palestinians are getting angrier. "What right do all those countries have to be here?" demands one Palestinian. "They are doing Israel's dirty work...
...success or failure of UNIFIL's mission depends largely on Yasser Arafat. The P.L.O. chief has already informed the U.N. that he believes his troops have a right to return to southern Lebanon under the terms of the 1969 Cairo agreement, in which the Lebanese government granted the Palestinians the right to operate in certain areas of southern Lebanon. Arafat has told the U.N. that he therefore believes UNIFIL should assist in the return of his forces to the area. If Arafat should decide to fight UNIFIL, as the U.N. must surely realize, he would have every chance...