Back in History: Threat of PLO attack on Fiji base

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Private Baro Sereinagata (left) and another soldier guard an observation point on the port city Tyre in the A company area. Pictures: FILE

A jeep-full of Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) soldiers pulled up at the Fiji Battalion checkpoint at Qana in Southern Lebanon one evening and threatened to attack the Fijian headquarters when refused entry.

An article in The Fiji Times on November 1 1979 said the sentries at the checkpoint refused to let them through.

The Fiji Times was on a United Nations sponsored tour to spend two weeks at the United Nations Interim Force In Lebanon (UNIFIL) base and to witness what our Fijian peacekeepers go through.

There were angry abuses. The PLO major leading the uniformed and armed men threatened to attack the Fijian headquarters that night.

Although the PLO men knew the rule that no “armed elements” were allowed through a UNIFIL checkpoint, they made an attempt to get through. They did this frequently.

The threat was reported immediately to the commanding officer, Lt-Col Jim Sanday, who put out a “Stand two” alert. All lights were turned off and all soldiers were ordered to be ready for the threatened attack.

As it turned out, it was an uneventful night.

That was the kind of tension the Fiji soldiers went through quite often in their difficult mission of trying to create peace in the war-torn and badly scarred nation that was once the commercial and cultural capital of the Middle East.

Despite the problems that beset our soldiers, their reputation remained one we can all be proud of.

Although ultimate peace and stability in a country shattered by war was still a long way off, there were visible signs in the Fiji battalion area that the Lebanese people were fed up of the war.

Hundreds of people fled the country during the bitter civil wars between 1975 and 1976 and the Seven-Day War in March 1978 in which 20,000 Israeli troops invaded Southern Lebanon in retaliation against a Palestinian terrorist attack in Israel which killed 33 Israelis and injured 80.

They were now returning to occupy their abandoned and ruined homes as a measure of confidence and security was being restored by the Fiji soldiers.

The population was increasing every week and this was largely due to the fact that the Fiji soldiers were performing their duties exceptionally well.

They gave the people the security needed to settle down.

We were passing one small settlement on our third-day there when young boys and girls shouted “Fiji good”.

The children’s shouts echoed the sentiments of the people.

Lt Col Sanday said,” our relationship with the people is good”.

As part of their duties, the soldiers went out of their way to help in community projects like building school walls and even cemeteries.

Some local schools had re-opened and local folk were hoping there would never be any more closures.

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