BEIRUT, Lebanon - More Lebanese troops deployed in south Lebanon Friday, and another contingent of French troops was due Saturday to reinforce a beefed-up UN peacekeeping force, as commercial life in the country was slowly returning to normal after Israel said it was lifting its sea blockade.

International flights were arriving regularly at Beirut's airport, and one ship docked at the capital's port Friday morning even before the Israeli announcement.

Meanwhile, a UN-backed flotilla of ships began patrolling the Lebanese coast in line with a truce that ended Israel's 34-day war on Hezbollah, paving the way for a full end to the punishing eight-week blockade.

"The sea and air blockade has ended," said Italian Foreign Minister Massimo D'Alema, whose country is leading the naval force tasked with preventing weapons smuggling to the Shiite Muslim guerrillas of Hezbollah.

A source in the office of Lebanon's prime minister said: "A naval force composed of the French, Italians and Greeks and led by Italy began surveillance of the Lebanese coast at 12:30 pm (0930 GMT)."

The move followed Israel's lifting of an air embargo on Thursday, finally ending a blockade that had remained in place despite a UN-brokered ceasefire on August 14 that brought the conflict to an end.

As diplomatic and military consultations were sorting out the state of play off Lebanon's coast, a St Vincent-flagged container ship sailing from Italy braved the blockade and docked in Beirut at 11:30 am (0830 GMT).

And an official with the Lebanese martime chamber of commerce said nine other ships were 70 nautical miles off the coast awaiting UN permission to enter the port.

Hassan Kraytem, head of Beirut's port authority, had said earlier that six ships had originally been scheduled to dock on Friday.

The war, in which more than 1,200 Lebanese, mostly civilians, and 160 Israelis, mostly soldiers, were killed, also shattered Lebanon's economy, with the blockade almost completely cutting off the country from the outside world.

Intense international efforts are underway to ensure that the truce holds, with a beefed up UN-force being deployed not only along the coast but also in southern Lebanon as Israeli troops pull out in line with UN Resolution 1701.

The deployment continued to unfold Friday.

Troops from Lebanon's 6th Brigade, supported by tanks, entered 10 villages in the western sector of the region along the border with Israel following a withdrawal by Israeli troops.

The only Israeli forces remaining in Lebanon are in Alma ash-Shab, also in the western sector, and in Marun al-Ras and Aitaroun in the central sector, an AFP correspondent said.

Meanwhile, the French embassy said that a naval ship carrying 300 soldiers from a logistical unit would dock in Beirut Saturday. The detachment will prepare the ground for a battalion of 900 soldiers due to arrive later as part of France's commitment of 2,000 troops to the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).

In Beirut, the country's only international airport was bustling with activity as business gradually returned to normal.

"Everything is going normally today, like before the war," said Mohammed Chihab el-Din, deputy manager at Rafiq Hariri International Airport, whose runways were bombed by Israel at the start of its massive month-long offensive.

The airport, which was recently renovated, typically handles about 100 flights a day.

Four German experts were to start working at the airport on Friday to help officials with security matters. In the arrivals area, Jessy Thaumy could barely contain her joy when she saw her son walk through customs.

"It has been months since I have seen him," she said. "He was supposed to have come home sooner, but the crisis meant he had to wait."

Jessy's son, Antoine, who works as a computer specialist in Kuwait, said "I feel like someone coming back at the moment his country has been liberated."

Fuad, a student who works in one of the airport cafes, was just back from his "enforced holiday."

"Now things are going to return to normal," he said. "The Lebanese always know how to land on their feet."

In other developments, the UN peacekeeping force said a fire at Beirut port on Thursday had destroyed some 700,000 dollars worth of humanitarian aid stored there, including blankets, tents and mattresses. The cause of the blaze was thought to have been accidental.

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