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Sarkozy: Whoever Attacks French Troops Will Bear the Consequences

French President Nicolas Sarkozy stressed on Friday that his country will maintain its support for Lebanon, noting that French troops have been participating in the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon for some 30 years.

He therefore warned that anyone who attacks a single French soldier will have to suffer the consequences of their action.

He added that France will continue on defending Lebanon’s sovereignty and independence.

On December 9, 2011, a French UNIFIL patrol was the victim of a roadside bomb in the southern city of Sidon.

Seven people, including five French soldiers, were wounded in the attack.

French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe stated that Syria was “undoubtedly” behind the assault.

He also accused it of employing its close ally Hizbullah of executing the attack.

UNIFIL patrols have been the target of a string of unclaimed roadside bomb attacks in recent years, including two previously in 2011.

The December blast came amid heightened tension over the bloody uprising in neighboring Syria, with some warning the unrest could spill over into Lebanon.

There have been constant fears that the UNIFIL force stationed in the south of the country would be an easy target should the unrest reach Lebanon.

Spain currently commands the 12,100-strong UNIFIL force, which was founded in 1978 and expanded after a 2006 war between Israel and Hizbullah.

France has one of the largest contingents with 1,300 soldiers.

In July, six French UNIFIL troops were wounded, one of them seriously, in the southern coastal town of Sidon, in an attack similar to Friday's. In May, six Italian peacekeepers were wounded in Sidon, also in a roadside bombing.

Three Spanish and three Colombian peacekeepers were killed in June 2007 when a booby-trapped car exploded as their patrol vehicle drove by.


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