Army chief to assess risks in Lebanon

New Defence Forces Chief-of-Staff Lieut Gen Dermot Earley is to visit Irish troops serving with the UN in Lebanon to assess the security threat following the deaths of six peacekeepers in a bomb attack not far from the Irish base.

Lieut Gen Earley yesterday said he believed the Irish deployment serving with the United Nations Interim Force In Lebanon (Unifil) was taking all necessary safety precautions following the attack. However, he intended to personally assess the security threat in the near future. It will be his first overseas trip since assuming his role last month.

"I will go out there in the next number of weeks and look at the situation and further develop the precautions if necessary."

He was speaking at the launch in Dublin yesterday of the Defence Forces and Department of Defence's joint annual report.

The Defence Forces currently has 165 troops in southern Lebanon. They are providing security for a contingent of Swedish troops involved in reconstruction and clearing minefields.

Three weeks ago a convoy of Spanish and Colombian peacekeepers was targeted when a roadside car bomb ripped the door off one of its vehicles, killing six of the eight soldiers inside. An Irish patrol was first on the scene of the attack, which took place between Marjayoun and Khiam, about 5km from the Irish base.

Irish troops are building a monument in Khiam to four other UN peacekeepers killed in last summer's war between Israel and Hizbullah.

The Spanish and the French Unifil battalions have requested equipment for their vehicles to jam the frequencies of the kind of remote control devices used in the June 24th attack.

Al-Qaeda has already denounced the Unifil mission and threatened further attacks against the peacekeeping force.

Speaking at the launch of yesterday's report, Defence Minister Willie O'Dea said despite recent terrorist attacks by Islamist extremists in England and Scotland, the threat assessment from such groups here remained low.

He said he has asked Lieut Gen Earley to formulate "new ways" in which more foreign nationals living in Ireland could be encouraged to join the Defence Forces.

Additional recruitment was needed if the Defence Forces was to reflect the changing ethnic make-up of Irish society.

Lieut Gen Earley said he believed the language skills foreign national recruits would bring could prove invaluable on overseas missions.

The annual report published yesterday revealed seven members of the Defence Forces tested positive for drugs last year with discharges scheduled or completed in all seven cases.

A total of 1,213 tests were carried out.

The UN mission in Liberia played host to the biggest number of Irish Defence Forces personnel with 687 serving there. This was followed by the KFOR mission in Kosovo with 418 and Lebanon with 157.