UN forces in Lebanon take al Qaeda threat in stride

BEIRUT, Oct 16 (Reuters) UN peacekeepers in Lebanon take seriously the threat implied by al Qaeda's Ayman al-Zawahri when he branded them ''enemies of Islam'' a month ago, while questioning the group's capacity to stage a spectacular strike.

The expanded UN mission, known as UNIFIL II, has gone relatively smoothly so far, with Hezbollah guerrillas ceding overt control of their southern strongholds to UN and Lebanese army troops and Israeli forces leaving all but one village.

But the risk of attack by Sunni Islamist militants lurks for UNIFIL, reinforced mostly by European troops since a truce stopped Israel's war with the Shi'ite Muslim fighters on August 14. Troops from Muslim nations are also joining the UN force.

''The large presence of Western forces in UNIFIL could make it a tempting target for al Qaeda or a loosely affiliated group,'' said an official of a non-Lebanese Islamist group.

''Statements by some countries that UNIFIL is here to protect Israel give them some justification to bring their war to Lebanon,'' said the official, whose group does not endorse al Qaeda's calls for global attacks on Western interests.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel drew criticism in Lebanon last month for linking Berlin's decision to send a naval force to prevent Hezbollah from rearming by sea with Germany's ''special responsibility for Israel's right to exist''.

The damnation of UNIFIL by al Qaeda's deputy leader Zawahri has had no local echo since it was aired on September 11, but neither the 5,200-strong ground force nor the German-led contingent patrolling the coast is ignoring it.

''We're taking every threat seriously,'' Rear Admiral Andreas Krause said yesterday when the German task force took over.

NAVAL NIGHTMARES Thomas Jaensch, the captain of a German frigate, told reporters worst-case scenarios included attack by an ''airborne device'' or from an explosives-packed speed boat.

''This happened to the US Navy in Yemen,'' he said, alluding to the bombing of the USS Cole in 2000. ''It would be conceivable in this maritime area, but I think we'd be well-prepared.'' A UN security source said UNIFIL troops had taken protective measures on the ground, but there had been no increase in the alert level since Zawahri's remarks.

The Lebanese government, responsible for ensuring UNIFIL's security, says al Qaeda sympathisers are active in Lebanon, but that no group has specifically threatened the peacekeepers.

''What Ayman al-Zawahri said may be serious because he is a serious man,'' acting Interior Minister Ahmad Fatfat told Reuters in an interview on Saturday. ''But such groups need a social base to work in and they don't have it in the (Shi'ite) south.'' For now, UNIFIL can take comfort from a sense that Israel, Lebanon and Hezbollah all need a period of stability in the south after the bruising 34-day conflict that began on July 12.

More Reuters SSC GC1455