Al Qaeda real threat to Lebanon - ex-UN peacekeeper commander

DAMASCUS, March 26 (RIA Novosti) - A former commander of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (Unifil) said Monday that it is Al Qaeda-connected Islamist terrorist groups, and not Lebanon's Shiite movement Hezbollah, that threaten the country's security.

A total of 12,000 UN peacekeepers are deployed in Lebanon. They are monitoring the situation in line with resolution 1701, which ended the war between Israel and Hezbollah last summer.

"The UN interim force deployed in Lebanon [Unifil] receive threats from radical Islamist groups connected with Al Qaeda," Syrian news agency Sana quoted French Major-General Alain Pellegrini as telling journalists.

According to Pellegrini, such groups plan attacks on UN peacekeepers in Lebanon with the use of suicide bombers or mined vehicles.

"Unifil servicemen have received several such threats in recent months," he said. "When someone thinks about threats in Lebanon, they think of Hezbollah. But I think the real danger emanates from Islamists."

In February, Italian Major-General Claudio Graciano replaced Pellegrini as Unifil commander, which the French general occupied for three years.