Russia to send troops for Lebanon rebuilding-Ifax

MOSCOW, Sep 11 (Reuters) President Vladimir Putin said today Russia would send troops to Lebanon to help rebuild the country after the conflict with Israel.

Russia will send a ''a group of servicemen as part of a battalion for reconstruction work,'' Putin said at a meeting with Kremlin chief-of-staff Sergei Sobyanin, Interfax news agency reported.

Putin instructed Sobyanin to prepare the necessary documents for the force. The deployment will have to be approved by the upper house of parliament.

Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov, also at the meeting with Putin, said an advance party would set off this week and the main bulk of the Russian forces could leave for Lebanon by the end of the month.

''A special reconnaissance group of military specialists, engineers and bomb disposal experts are ready to leave this week for Lebanon,'' Ivanov told Putin.

REUTERS BDP MIR BST1653