Over 500 Italian peacekeepers arrive in Lebanon, 500 more expected

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More than 500 Italian peacekeepering troops have arrived in Lebanon since Saturday, UN spokesman Alexander Ivanko said Sunday, and the remaining 500 were expected to arrive later Sunday.

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French General Alain Pellegrini, who commands UNIFIL, confirmed Israel has been destroying Hezbollah arms caches in territories it still occupies in the south, and on Friday the Israeli military said its forces had demolished an unspecified number of Hezbollah bunkers and armament.

Pellegrini said such actions violated the truce, as do reconnaissance missions by Israeli jets over Lebanese air space.

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Instead, the force will ensure a buffer zone along the Israeli-Lebanese border is free of Hezbollah fighters and arms, up to the Litani river about 30 kilometers (18 miles) to the north.

Haaretz

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1. UN: Hezbollah must disarm.

UNIFIL: Destroying Hezbollah's arms caches is a violation of the agreement.

Instead, "the force" (presumably UNIFIL) "will ensure a buffer zone ... free of Hezbollah fighters and arms."

One has to wonder how, exactly. The best they've done is to say they'll confiscate any Hezb arms that they see, but won't actually look for any. Seems to me this would motivate good camoflage and bunkers with securely closed doors more than anything. Nasrallahs' taqiyyeria should be doing a booming business.

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2. How is a good question.

I thought of bringing it up myself. One can think of theoretical solutions, but pragmatic ones are another matter. But let us not disturb the "peace process".

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3. I really must read Kafka.

I've been wanting to use the word 'Kafkaesque' with respect to many situations, but have always feared misusing it in my ignorance of the Prague writer's works.

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4. LOL.

Not my expertise at all. I would venture that life is full of situations where whatever you do, it is wrong, but Kafka is another matter entirely I think.

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5. Speaking of Kafka:

Press freedom is the subject of a play showed through tomorrow in A'ali, in the archipelago of Bahrain (Persian Gulf, east of Saudi Arabia). Inana Lasadiqoon (We Are Up To Our Word) features 18 actors and the main character is a journalist who finds himself in prison without being able of figuring out the reason. In order to spot his crime, the editor replays in his mind all the articles he has been writing, expecially focusing on a piece regarding Hizbollah.

http://www.editorsweblog.org/print_newspapers/2006/09/kafkaesque_play_in_arabic_country.php

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6. This is Kafka-esque:

Mohammed Abbas still isn't sure why he was plucked from the street by a group of armed men, some wearing police uniforms, to be interrogated and tortured for five days.

He had never been involved in politics, he steered clear of crime, and he kept his religious views to himself. His family was not particularly well-heeled.

But perhaps it was the 34-year-old engineer's refusal to play for a local soccer team run by members of Moqtada al-Sadr's al-Mahdi militia that made him a target. Certainly, the repeated hammer blows to his knees during his ordeal has meant that Mr Abbas - a popular figure on Baghdad's football scene, a former member of Iraq's youth squad, and an avid Manchester United fan - may never play again. Now in hiding in Iraqi Kurdistan, Mr Abbas (not his real name) said: "I must be very careful because I still have family in Baghdad and I just don't know who exactly took me."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,,1865040,00.html