Lebanon Peacekeepers Met With Skepticism

Guerrisi's San Marco Regiment is part of the same force that deployed to Lebanon after the Israeli invasion in 1982. It is joined by the Lagunari Company, and together they have the 10 amphibious vehicles, 24 armored personnel carriers and patrol vehicles already plying the roads. In the early 1980s, the Italians were alone among the international forces in Beirut in escaping the suicide truck bombings inflicted on the American and French contingents.

The air of the encampment is relaxed; one soldier wore an Armani watch, another sipped a beer. The United Nations' blue flag flies from virtually everything: tents, gates and vehicles. No one wears flak jackets, nor do they wear helmets on patrol.

"We are not here to occupy anybody," said Guerrisi, a stocky officer with a bearing at once formal and friendly, who served with Italian forces in the Iraqi city of Basra in 2004. "Absolutely not. We are here to help the Lebanese army forces."

"Mistakes," said Massimo Goio, who serves as a spokesman for the force. "We don't want to create any."

Since arriving at the end of August, the Italians have strived for sensitivity. Soldiers have been told not to show the soles of their shoes or to greet women as they patrol. On a recent day, Italian doctors provided free treatment for a 7-year-old Lebanese girl with a broken hand and a 40-year-old man with a cut foot. Some officers are learning phrases in Arabic.

"The civilian people are very friendly. We haven't found any problems," Goio said. "The people respect us."

But Goio, who was stationed near the Iraqi town of Nasiriyah, where Italian soldiers fought followers of a radical Shiite cleric in 2004, said he remains cautious. Ten to 20 people, he said, that was all that was needed to create problems.

The lesson he learned from Nasiriyah: "Every day it's good, it's quiet," he said. "Then one day it's not good."

While Italian officers say everything is coordinated with the Lebanese army, still burdened with antiquated equipment and supply shortages, the Italian patrols move alone. There is an occasional wave or a thumbs up; sometimes residents shout hello.

More often, the soldiers are met with stares -- with a hint of curiosity at times, but often expressionless. On a recent day, two Italian vehicles took up spots on different sides of the road, watching traffic pass unhindered for hours.

Hezbollah has insisted that the U.N. force restrict its mission to such patrols and has bridled at suggestions it would monitor the airport, Lebanon's border with Syria or routes into the country by sea. Most of Hezbollah's arms are believed shipped in almost exclusively by land from Syria, but analysts suggest the group is unwilling to compromise on the other issues for fear of losing say.

"Compromises are being given for free," Mohammed Raad, a Hezbollah member of parliament, said at a rally Monday.