Denmark willing to send 3 navy vessels to Lebanon

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Denmark has offered to send three navy ships to help patrol Lebanon's coastline but is not prepared to contribute troops to the UN peacekeeping force, the defense minister said Wednesday. "I have no ambitions to send troops to Lebanon because we simply do not have them," Soeren Gade said. Presently, Denmark has a maximum of 1,200 soldiers assigned to international operations, including Iraq, Afghanistan and Kosovo. Denmark could offer "a corvette or two patrol vessels or both" to patrol the coast of Lebanon, he said. Germany and Norway have also offered to send navy ships to help patrol Lebanon's coastline and ensure Hizbullah is not supplied with weapons by sea. Gade said any decision to send navy vessels must be approved by the parliament. However, Gade said he was willing to send ships requested by the U.N. before parliamentary approval because it would take weeks for them to reach the eastern Mediterranean.