Spanish UNIFIL troops prepare for Zapatero visit

By Mohammed Zaatari
Daily Star staff

SIDON: The Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero is to visit Lebanon Friday as part of a Middle East tour aimed at showing support for Spanish peacekeepers abroad. Zapatero will visit the Spanish battalion operating as part of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) as part of his Middle East tour to convey Europe’s support to the efforts of peace in the region. A ceremony will be held in honor of the prime minister at the Spanish battalion’s military base Miguel de Cervantes at the southern town of Ibl al-Saqi.

On the first day of his Middle East tour Wednesday, Zapatero visited the historic Umayad Mosque in Damascus.

The Spanish battalion has been preparing for the visit of their premier since the start of the week for the inauguration of Cordoba Square in the southern town of Ibl al-Saqi.

A model of the Hypostyle Hall of the Mosque of Cordoba was built to commemorate the Spanish city of Cordoba and to mark the Spanish prime minister’s visit.

The premier’s visit comes days after the Spanish battalion held a ceremony Monday to celebrate Spain’s National Day and commemorate the date of the discovery of the American continent by Genoese explorer Christopher Columbus in 1492. The national holiday celebrates the spreading of the Spanish language and culture through the South American colonies.

The UNIFIL battalion as well as the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) presented military parades during the ceremony and the LAF orchestra played a series of patriotic songs.