Beirut - Germany handed over Monday command of the United Nations Interim Forces in Lebanon Maritime Task Force (MTF) which monitors the Lebanese seawaters, to Italy for the next six months. In a ceremony aboard German flagship FGS Schleswig-Holstein at Beirut harbour, Rear Admiral Paolo Sandalli of Italy assumed command from Germany's Rear Admiral Juergen Mannhardt.
UNIFIL Commander Major-General Claudio Graziano paid special tribute to Germany for its competent leadership of MTF over the past months. He also praised the Lebanese navy's performance.
"The combined employment of Lebanese army, navy patrol craft and coastal radar in interdiction operations, the navy's involvement in hailing merchant vessels and in the boarding and inspection of suspicious vessels at sea, including at night, have significantly contributed to securing Lebanese maritime borders," Graziano said.
UNIFIL-MTF assists the Lebanese navy in securing the territorial waters and help in preventing unauthorized entry of arms or related material by sea into Lebanon, especially to the Shiite Lebanese movement Hezbollah.
Since the start of its operations on October 15, 2006 in the wake of the 33-day war between Israel and Lebanon, MTF has stopped around 28,000 ships and referred nearly 400 suspicious vessels to Beirut authorities for further inspection, a UNIFIL press release said.
After Monday's command changeover, UNIFIL-MTF now comprises naval units from Germany (3 ships), Greece (1 ship), Italy (1 ship) and Turkey (1 ship).
