(5 Jan 2008) SHOTLIST
1. Arrival of UN helicopter to Blatt Base
2. Wide of Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero and Spanish Defence Minister Jose Antonio Alonso walking in the base
3. Spanish troops saluting
4. Various of Zapatero and Alonso shaking hands with troops
5. SOUNDBITE: (Spanish) Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, Spanish Prime Minister:
"Professionalism is an element which is already a reference in all of the armies and for all countries, I want to therefore say that just like most Spaniards I feel very proud about the way you work and the way you represent the flag that you carry across your chest. This is the best summary of what your task and your mission represents. It's a task that sometime has a high risk."
6. Zapatero and Alonso toasting troops
STORYLINE
Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, accompanied by Defence Minister Jose Antonio Alonso, inspected on Saturday more than 1,000 Spanish soldiers serving in a UN peacekeeping force that is overseeing a truce along the Lebanese-Israeli border.
Zapatero, who arrived on a previously unannounced visit, held talks earlier on Saturday with Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora on Lebanon's deepening political crisis.
During a 45-minute meeting at Beirut airport, Saniora briefed Zapatero on the situation in Lebanon, the state-run National News Agency reported.
Zapatero's visit came as Lebanon has been without a president since pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud's term ended on November 23, plunging the country into political crisis.
Zapatero and Antonio Alonso, later flew by a UN helicopter to the southern town of Marjayoun near the border with Israel.
At the Blatt Base they inspected 1,100 Spanish troops serving with the UN peacekeeping force, known as UNIFIL (United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon), which is increasingly threatened by al-Qaida-inspired militants and political instability in Beirut.
Zapatero used the visit as an opportunity to praise the troops for all of their work.
"Just like most Spaniards I feel very proud about the way you work and the way you represent the flag that you carry across your chest," he told the soldiers.
Already, the UN force has come under attack in southern Lebanon.
In June, a car bombing killed six peacekeepers from the Spanish contingent.
Other bombings recently have been thwarted by authorities, with army intelligence announcing in October the arrest of seven Palestinian militants who planned attacks.
No group has claimed responsibility for the June attack or another one that followed in July.
But in a July videotape, al-Qaida's deputy leader Ayman al-Zawahri blessed the attack against the Spanish contingent, fuelling speculation that it was carried out by al-Qaida-linked militants.
The 13,530-strong UN force was deployed in southern Lebanon in 2006 along with 15,000 Lebanese troops following a 34-day war between Israel and Hezbollah guerrillas.
The Spanish premier's visit also came amid fears of attacks on Spanish troops based in south Lebanon.

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