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Respect the truce, Italy tells Israel

Atul Aneja

Rome offers to send peace troops

DUBAI: Italy has offered to send troops and assume command of a United Nations force that is being deployed to help maintain the ceasefire in Lebanon.

Italian Prime Minister, Romano Prodi, announced his country's intention to send around 3,000 troops, provided certain conditions were met. Mr. Prodi made the decision after a lengthy telephonic conversation with U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

The U.N. wants 3,500 additional international peacekeepers in southern Lebanon by the end of the month, as part of a force of 15,000.

Italian Foreign Minister Massimo D'Alema said participation would depend upon on whether Israel respected the ceasefire. "From Israel, we expect a renewed commitment ... to respect the ceasefire," Mr. D'Alema told the daily La Republica. "It is right to demand that Hizbollah gives up its weapons but we cannot send our soldiers to Lebanon while the Israeli armed forces continue to fire." The Italians were also seeking clarifications on the exact nature of the mandate and the terms of engagement. Mr. Prodi has called for a fresh U.N. resolution "with a specific mandate, contents and a very clear definition of the alliances."

Annan for West Asia

Countries, which were considering troop contributions, do no want their forces caught up in the crossfire between Hizbollah, which has refused to disarm, and Israel, which is threatening to use force.

Keen to anchor the fragile truce, Mr. Annan was planning to travel to West Asia by the weekend. The visit was likely to commence after he had heard from his two special envoys, Vijay Nambiar and Terje Roed-Larsen who were in the region.

The continuation of an air and naval blockade on Lebanon is raising fresh tensions between Israel and Hizbollah. Lebanon's Labour Minister Tarrad Hamadeh said, "Entry to Lebanon by sea and from air is a matter of sovereignty." He added that Lebanon had the right to end the Israeli blockade by asking the national carrier and Arab ships to visit Lebanon.

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