 ROME - A planned United Nations force for Lebanon must have a clear-cut mandate, ItalyÂ’s prime minister said on Monday before a government meeting this week to discuss RomeÂ’s contribution to the mission.
Defence Ministry officials say up to 3,000 Italian troops could be deployed and Prime Minister Romano Prodi seems eager to win opposition backing for the mission—which he has branded ‘a great opportunity for political unity’ in Italy.
The centre-right opposition led by Silvio Berlusconi says it will give its approval only if the rules of engagement are clear, arguing that the UN resolution authorising the deployment is confusing.
‘Our soldiers must be allowed to defend themselves from any attack and be able to help fulfil on the ground the provisions of the UN resolution, which calls for Hezbollah to be put in a position where it cannot harm,’ said Fabrizio Cicchitto, a senior official of Berlusconi’s Forza Italia party.
| Because otherwise they're known as 'targets'. |
| If the international force does try to rein in Hezbollah, they will be targets of Hezbollah car bombs, rockets, etc. The Hezzies saw how fast the UN bugged out of Iraq when their HQ got boomed. |
Prodi, keen to change Italy’s international profile after the US focus of his predecessor Berlusconi, has said Italy will contribute troops to the Lebanon force. He has talked of himself as a ‘facilitator’ in the Middle East peace drive.
Prodi told US President George W. Bush in a phone call on Monday that Italy wanted ‘a clear mandate, free from ambiguity’ for the force, his office said in a statement. However, wary of irking his far-left and pacifists allies, he stopped short of spelling out what he believed the mandate should be.
| Typical weasel politican. |
Communist and Green parties in ProdiÂ’s patchwork coalition have criticised ItalyÂ’s military presence not just in Iraq, but also as part of a NATO-led peacekeeping force in Afghanistan.
| Because they're communists after all. |
Prodi, who has a wafer-thin majority in the Senate, had to resort to a confidence vote last month to keep Italian troops in Afghanistan and is hoping to avoid a divisive debate this time around. |