Brussels, 22 August (AKI) - The European Union is confident there will be agreement between its 25 member states on a "significant presence" in the planned international peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon, EU sources told Adnkronos International (AKI) on Tuesday. The comments come ahead of Wednesday's meeting of EU ambassadors in Brussels to discuss the contribution of EU countries to the peacekeeping mission, a meeting which EU defence ministers may also attend, the sources said. UN Security Council Resolution 1701 calls for 15,000 troops to be deployed.France and other countries requested Wednesday's meeting in order to clarify the rules of engagement and the mandate of the planned peacekeeping force in Lebanon. France, has so far signalled it is prepared to send just 200-300 troops, citing concerns at the possibility that its soldiers might have to disarm guerrillas from militant Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah and/or come under fire.
Italy's government has indicated it would be prepared to head the international peacekeeping force - a proposal that has received support from the Israeli and Lebanese governments. Italy's foreign minister Massimo D'Alema has said the country would contribute 2,000-3,000 troops to the proposed force, provided Israel did not violate the UN-brokered ceasefire.
The Finnish EU presidency is currently considering D'Alema's proposal to convene an emergency summit of EU foreign ministers in Brussels on Friday over the question of the EU contribution to the force. "We are evaluating the proposal, and are holding a series of consultations with our European partners to evaluate the various options but no decision has yet been taken," an anonymous EU presidency source told AKI.
The EU is expected to contribute 5,000-9,000 troops. Soldiers would come from Spain, Belgium and the Netherlands, as well as from Italy, D'Alema told Italy's La Repubblica daily on Tuesday. He held out hopes that France might up its contribution to 2,000 troops.