Turkey, the only Muslim member of NATO and a country with close ties to both Israel and Arab states, will become the first Muslim nation to deploy peacekeepers in Lebanon when it dispatches more than 200 navy officers and soldiers Friday.

The United Nations has considerably boosted its presence in southern Lebanon as part of the August 14 cease-fire deal that ended a month of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah.

The Turkish navy said Thursday the troops would leave aboard a frigate from the naval base at Marmaris on the south Mediterranean coast.

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A further 260 land forces soldiers will join the Turkish operation in Lebanon next week, military sources said.

The AK Party government, which has roots in political Islam, is expected to send some 1,000 troops in total. It has defended the deployment as vital to Turkish national interests, saying it will boost Ankara's profile in a volatile region.

The opposition and some in the media have criticised the force, arguing that it will mainly serve Israeli and U.S.
interests, but Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has assured the skeptical public that Turkish soldiers will be withdrawn immediately if asked to disarm Hezbollah fighters.

Earlier, Turkish leaders said the number of troops that would serve in the peacekeeping force in Lebanon would not exceed 1,000. It appears the number would include the sailors as well.

The Turkish contingent would be deployed in an area some 15 kilometers (9 miles) away from the port of Tyre and would help reconstruct damaged bridges or roads, Turkish NTV television station said. The area is about 20 kilometers (12 miles) north of the Lebanese-Israeli border.

Another Muslim country, Indonesia, was also expected to deploy troops in Lebanon at a later date. The previous UNIFIL force in southern Lebanon had a contingent of Iranians in 1978-79, but these were withdrawn after the Islamic revolution of 1979 overthrew the monarchy in Iran.

Last month, Turkey's parliament approved sending soldiers to help monitor the shaky cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah guerrillas based in southern Lebanon, despite widespread public opposition and street protests.

Turks, most of whom are Muslims, are wary of being drawn into fighting with fellow Muslims to protect Israel, whose 34-day military campaign in Lebanon was extraordinarily unpopular in Turkey as in much of the Islamic world.

However, Erdogan's government sees participating in the Lebanon peacekeeping force as a chance to raise Turkey's international profile as it strives to join the European Union and reassert Turkish influence in the region, decades after their Ottoman Empire ruled across southeastern Europe, North Africa and the Middle East.

Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul late last month pressed for a seat on the UN Security Council, saying it was "long overdue" and warranted, given his country's front-line role in securing peace in Lebanon.

UNIFIL said on Thursday that the presence of its beefed-up force in Lebanon would help boost the struggling economy in the war-ravaged country.

A UNIFIL statement said the increase in the number of
international staff "will definitely influence for the better the financial market in Lebanon.

"The soldiers spend a lot of money here: they visit local
attractions, eat out, travel and this, in the end, helps to stimulate the economy," UNIFIL's acting chief administrative officer Jean-Pierre Ducharme said.

"In addition, UNIFIL employees have many visitors who will
have a significant impact on tourism and this is priceless, it improves the reputation of the country," he said.

Norwegian Red Cross sends 10 ambulances to Lebanon
The Norwegian Red Cross shipped 10 heavy duty ambulances
to Lebanon on Thursday to help provide medical assistance in war-damaged areas, officials said.

"Damaged roads after the war (with Israel) have made it difficult for normal ambulances to make it through. So, we sent 10, off-road ambulances to the Lebanese Red Cross," said Bernt G. Apeland, spokesman for the aid group in
Oslo.

The ambulances were donated by the Norwegian military, with funding from the Foreign Ministry. They are four wheel-drive and each have space for six patients.

All medical and emergency equipment in the units is new, and they can function as fully-equipped field clinics, a statement said.

The ambulances are being transported by ferry and road, and are expected to reach Lebanon by late October.

In August, the Norwegian Red Cross sent 10 similar ambulances and 28 trucks for distributing emergency aid to the Lebanese Red Cross. The latest shipment also includes two snowmobiles, which will be part of a Norwegian effort to train and equip Lebanese winter rescue teams.