Special report: Israel-Lebanon Conflicts   [Video] [Gallery]
Special report: Israel, Lebanon agree on ceasefire

    ROME, Sept. 14 (Xinhua) -- Italian House Foreign and Defence Committees Thursday gave the green light to a government decree authorizing the deployment of Italian troops in Lebanon.

    Despite doubts expressed recently by opposition leader Silvio Berlusconi, three of the four parties in his center-right coalition supported the decree when the committees voted.

    Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi expressed "satisfaction" after the vote, saying the country understood the importance of the mission and "stood united."

    "Wisdom and maturity prevailed. Our soldiers have the right to feel the country united behind them," said Italian Defense Minister Arturo Parisi after the vote.

    The vote result meant that the decree is almost certain to win overwhelming approval when it goes before the House and Senate later this month.

    Before the vote on Thursday, Italian President Giorgio Napolitano repeated earlier calls for a solid show of support for the Lebanon mission, saying the entire nation saw it as a "duty" which must not be shirked.

    The only party to abstain in the vote was the Northern League, which has expressed concern over the rules of engagement under which Italian soldiers are operating in Lebanon.

    Italy has agreed to send up to 3,000 soldiers to Lebanon. It is scheduled to take over command of the United Nations Interim Forces in Lebanon (UNIFIL) in February 2007.

    Over 1,000 Italians are already deployed in south Lebanon. They began patrol duties on Tuesday as their service with the UNIFIL peacekeeping mission officially got underway.

    According to local media reports, the decree under which the government deployed troops in Lebanon must be confirmed with a parliamentary vote by the end of October, but the center-left hopes approval can be obtained much sooner. Enditem