The 4th group of UAE armed forces field engineers arrived in Beirut for implementing the initiative of President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al-Nahayan in clearing areas of south Lebanon from mines and cluster bombs. The group will assume their duty to complete the mission of demining and clearing of bombs and unexploded projectiles started by the groups 1, 2 and 3 who managed to clear a number of villages and farms in Southern Lebanon. There are now 30 UAE teams with military field engineers for clearing about 4 million square kilometers planted with 156 booby traps and 274 minefields, the UAE news agency "WAM" reported. According to the field survey conducted by the specialized military team of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in coordination with the Lebanese Military and the United Nations, the whole area of South Lebanon previously occupied by Israel, except the Blue Line, will be cleared by the end of 2007. Other 580 kms area south of Litani River which was demined before will be cleared again from cluster and unexploded bombs that remained from the last Israeli aggression on South Lebanon. It is important to note that the project of demining and clearing is considered an extension of the UAE-Lebanese solidarity project initiated by late sheikh Zayed bin Sultan in 2002 in which 580, 073 mines were cleared besides 4,192 unexploded bombs and 199 booby traps distributed on an area of around 5 million square kms.
