National
Spanish Defence Minister visits troops in the Lebanon
By h.b.
Apr 28, 2008 - 7:37 AM

Spanish Minister for Defence, Carme Chacón, has taken part in her second official visit in less than a week to visit the 1,100 Spanish troops stationed in the Lebanon on U.N. peace-keeping operations.
It follows her trip to Afghanistan on April 19, and tomorrow, Tuesday she will move on to Bosnia.

She arrived at Beirut airport at 6,40am this morning accompanied by the Defence Chief, General Felix Sanz Roldán and then headed by helicopter to the Miguel de Cervantes base which is in the south of the country in Marjayoun.

Chacón made it clear that she wanted to visit all the Spanish troops oversees before the birth of her child – she is nearly eight months pregnant.

In a wide-ranging interview in El País yesterday, the Defence Minister describes herself as a pacifist and says she wants Spanish society to understand that the Spanish Army is a peace force.