Rome offers to lead UN force in Lebanon
Pastor Dale Morgan
Rome offers to lead UN force in Lebanon*
Mark Oliver and agencies
Tuesday August 22, 2006
Guardian Unlimited
Italy has offered to lead an augmented UN peacekeeping force in southern
Lebanon and said it would contribute between 2,000 and 3,000 troops.
In in interview in La Repubblica newspaper, the foreign minister,
Massimo D'Alema, said Rome would provide around one third of Europe's
contribution to the strengthening of the Unifil force.
He said Italy was prepared to lead the force and replace France - a
former colonial power in Lebanon - after Paris disappointed some UN
officials when it offered to send only 200 additional troops last week.
However, Mr D'Alema warned that Italy's commitment depended on Israel
maintaining the ceasefire aimed at ending the 34-day conflict between
Israel and Hizbullah fighters.
"From Israel, we expect a renewed effort, this time truly binding, to
respect the ceasefire," he said. "It's fair to expect that Hizbullah put
down their weapons, but we cannot send our troops to Lebanon if the
[Israeli] army keeps shooting."
The truce, which began on August 14, has been put under pressure by
sporadic incidents including an Israeli commando raid in eastern
Lebanon's Bekaa Valley on Saturday, which the UN described as a violation.
It was hoped Italy's commitment could prompt other countries to offer
substantial troop numbers, and Mr D'Alema said the Italian personnel
would be supported by personnel from Spain, the Netherlands, Belgium and
other nations.
Lebanon's government has welcomed the Italian offer, and Israel has said
it would be happy if Italy led the force.
The Unifil presence currently amounts to around 2,000 troops, but the UN
resolution aimed at ending the fighting called for it to be increased to
15,000.
The resolution also said a similar number of Lebanese army soldiers
should be deployed with Unifil in southern Lebanon. Israel has said it
will not withdraw the thousands of troops it has in the country until a
substantial stabilisation force is in place.
French officials said their hesitancy in contributing greater numbers to
the mission was because of confusion about the rules of engagement.
However, the US president, George Bush, yesterday called for the urgent
dispatch of UN peacekeepers.
"The international community must now designate the leadership of this
international force, give it robust rules of engagement and deploy it as
quickly as possible to secure the peace," Mr Bush said.
The UK has offered logistical support to the UN peacekeeping mission,
but will not be contributing troops, citing its commitments in
Afghanistan and Iraq.
The Israeli government has been facing increasing domestic criticism of
its handling of the conflict, which began after Hizbullah captured two
Israeli troops, prompting a huge Israeli offensive.
Yesterday a brigade of Israeli reserve soldiers accused the government
of fighting the war with "indecision" and "cold feet".