Troops to Move Into S. Lebanon
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BEIRUT — President Elias Hrawi’s government on Wednesday ordered its army to deploy in south Lebanon beginning Feb. 1 to separate rival Shiite Muslim militias, despite Israeli objections.
The 15,000-member army has had no active presence in south Lebanon since the country’s civil war broke out in 1975.
The government also ordered the army to raid suspected arms hide-outs that Christian and Muslim militias might have left in Beirut and its environs.
The militias withdrew from the capital in November, when the Syrian-backed government began its drive to re-establish control over the country.
Government sources said up to 1,000 troops will be dispatched to the Apple region, which overlooks a self-designated “security zone” that Israel occupies in south Lebanon.
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