JERUSALEM - Israel on Sunday asked Italy to manage border posts between Syria and Lebanon and play a ‘fundamental part’ in the multinational peacekeeping force to be deployed in southern Lebanon. ‘It is important that the multinational force arrives in the region as quickly as possible and that Italy is a fundamental part of it,’ Israeli premier Ehud Olmert said during a telephone conversation with Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi.
| Ehud really isn't in a position to persuade anyone, is he. |
He asked Prodi to supply an Italian contingent that would patrol ‘border posts between Syria and Lebanon,’ according to an Israeli official statement. ‘Israel considers the participation of the Italian army as a vital element in applying UN Security Council Resolution 1701 and this participation will contribute to peace and stability in the Middle East,’ Olmert said.
Prodi responded that he ‘intended to send a logical contingent that would be able to fulfill its mission and that he would submit the matter to parliament for consideration.’
| In other words, fat chance. |
|