NNA - General Commander of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, Major General Paolo Serra, said Friday that the peacekeeping force will mainly focus in 2013 on observing the cease of hostilities, supporting the Lebanese army as a strategic partner, and bolstering interaction with citizens.



Serra, who celebrated his first anniversary as a UNIFIL Commander, corroborated that peacekeepers share the goal of the Lebanese people, at the behest of the Lebanese government, pursuant to a UN mandate on enhancing stability and security in South Lebanon.



"We can't achieve this goal without mutual respect, support, and understanding," Serra told a luncheon banquet he hosted in Naqoura in honor of a panel of political, spiritual, military, social, and municipal figures.



"Our strategic partner in implementing our mandate is the Lebanese army; we work together with full respect for the Lebanese sovereignty," Serra said.



He confirmed that the UNIFIL was endeavoring to lessen the impact of its operations on civilians.



"During 2012, we have witnessed a few but abominable incidents stemming from the citizens' concerns over UNIFIL using photography and GPS (...) such equipments are only used within the exclusive scope of UN resolution 1701," he explained.



But he reproached that the UNIFIL must be also respected, denouncing some locals' intercepting peacekeeping patrols.



Serra, Italian, assumed the command of the UNIFIL in January 2012, succeeding Major General Carlos Asarta from Spain.



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