REFILE - CLARIFYING LOCATION Some of the 100 Malaysian army personnel, part of a 360-member contingent, attend a briefing at their military camp in Subang outside Kuala Lumpur early January 2, 2007, for the airport before their departure to Lebanon for a United Nations peacekeeping mission.
(REUTERS/Bazuki Muhammad)
Malaysia troops leave for U.N. duty in Lebanon
KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - The first batch of 100 Malaysian soldiers left for Lebanon on Tuesday on a United Nations peacekeeping mission, a military spokesman said.
A final contingent of 260 soldiers from the mainly Muslim country will follow on January 15, he said.
Israel had initially objected to peacekeepers coming from nations which do not recognize the Jewish state, but later relaxed that stance.
Both Malaysia and neighboring Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation and which has also sent troops to Lebanon, have no diplomatic ties with Israel.
The U.N. force is being deployed in Lebanon after a truce halted Israel's 34-day war with Hezbollah guerrillas in mid-August.
Malaysia's Defense Minister Najib Razak has said his country was ready to increase the number of troops in Lebanon if the U.N. extends the Malaysian mandate beyond six months.
The Malaysian soldiers will be based in the town of Marjayoun near the Syrian border, he said.
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