Accompanied by Defence minister, José Antonio Alonso, president Zapatero is in Lebanon today to visit the 1,100 Spanish troops taking part in a UN peacekeeping mission.

After taking off from Torrejón de Ardoz airport outside Madrid at 4am this morning, Mr Zapatero and his party were met at Beirut airport by Lebanese prime minister, Fuad Siniora, before continuing their onward journey by helicopter to the town of Marjayun, where most of the Spanish troops are stationed.

The visit is the second of its type Mr Zapatero has made since taking office in the spring of 2004 - the first being a trip to Spanish troops based in Afghanistan on the 19th December 2005 (archive photo) - and comes just five days after King Juan Carlos's own surprise visit to Afghanistan last New Year's Eve.

In his Christmas Eve video-conference address to all Spanish troops on overseas missions this year, Mr Zapatero thanked them for their hard work and paid special tribute to those killed on overseas peace missions last year, including a special mention for the six Spanish soldiers killed in an attack on their armoured vehicle near the Lebanese town of Jiamen on the 24th June.