The Taoiseach made it clear yesterday that Ireland's commitment to UNIFIL's peace-keeping mission is open-ended when he visited Irish soldiers serving in south Lebanon yesterday.
Mr Ahern met the governor of Bint Jubayl region, Mr Ibrahim Darwish, mayors, and members of town councils in the area where the Irish battalion is based. Responding to warm speeches of praise for the role played by Irish troops for more than 20 years, he said: "As long as there is a need for Irish troops in the area, we will be willing to answer the call."
Most of Mr Ahern's intensive schedule was taken up with a tour of six Irish UNIFIL outposts, meeting some of the 650 soldiers serving in south Lebanon and being briefed on their peace-keeping role. He was accompanied by the Minister for Defence, Mr Smith, and the Chief of Staff of the Defence Forces, Maj Gen David Stapleton.
It was wet and very cold and Mr Ahern wore an Army flak jacket, UN helmet and wellingtons. On Hill 880, which got its name from being 880 m above sea level, Mr Ahern chatted to the soldiers who live in spartan conditions in makeshift huts about 500 metres from an Israeli compound. At the end of his tour the Taoiseach told Irish journalists accompanying him: "Life is no bed of roses for our soldiers here. It has been an interesting experience for me, and I am glad to have had an opportunity to acknowledge the excellent work being done by the men and women of our Defence Forces."
Earlier, Mr Ahern laid a wreath at the monument to the 38 Irish soldiers who have died in Lebanon at a ceremony in the Irish headquarters at Camp Shamrock near the village of Tibnin. Comdt Con McNamara read the soldiers' names and prayers were recited by the chaplain, Father Brendan Madden.
But it was the only sombre note struck in a day when the soldiers' mood was clearly upbeat. At Camp Shamrock, the Taoiseach's party was met by the Officer Commanding, Lieut Col Senan Downes. Mr Ahern, who toured by helicopter and road, also visited the UNIFIL headquarters in Naqoura, where he met the Force Commander, Maj Gen Konrote. The Taoiseach stopped off at an orphanage in Tibnin to present it with a minibus, bought with $20,000 raised by the Irish soldiers in the area and a contribution from the Department of Foreign Affairs.
Mr Ahern's first engagement yesterday was laying a wreath at the memorial in Qana to the 107 people killed in the Israeli attack on a Fijian camp in April 1996. Framed photographs of the charred and blood-soaked victims recalled the atrocity, as did the survivors, including a woman who lost both legs and a hand.
Afterwards the Taoiseach said it had reminded him of what he had seen in Omagh after last summer's bomb attack. "Innocent men, women and children are always the victim of war," he added.
Today Mr Ahern will pay a courtesy call on the Lebanese Prime Minister, Mr Salin al-Hoss, in Beirut. In Israel later he will meet the Prime Minister, Mr Benjamin Netanyahu, and in Gaza he will have talks with the Palestinian President, Mr Yasser Arafat, before returning to Dublin on Thursday.
The Taoiseach yesterday said he will not decide on Ireland's nomination for the next EU Commissioner until the summer.
Responding to questions about Mr Padraig Flynn, he said any allegations made against Mr Flynn were a matter for the Flood tribunal and he would not comment on them.
