Europe to provide ‘backbone’ of Lebanon force

updated 2:58 p.m. ET Aug. 25, 2006

BRUSSELS, Belgium - U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said Friday that Europe had agreed to provide the “backbone” of a peacekeeping force for Lebanon, providing nearly half of a 15,000-member contingent.

European officials said it would take up to three months to get all the troops on the ground.

Speaking after an emergency meeting of European foreign ministers, Annan also said he has “firm commitments” from Malaysia, Indonesia and Bangladesh, and was consulting with Turkey about joining the peacekeeping force.

Israel has said it would oppose the deployment of troops from Muslim nations with which it does not have diplomatic ties, saying their inclusion would make it impossible for Israel to share vital intelligence information with the U.N. force.

“Europe is providing the backbone of the force,” Annan said. “We can now begin to put together a credible force.”

By pledging 6,900 troops, European countries overcame initial concern about being caught in the middle between Israel and the militant group Hezbollah, which agreed Aug. 14 to lay down arms under a U.N. brokered cease-fire after 34 days of fighting that claimed hundreds of lives and caused significant damage, especially in Lebanon.

France, in particular, had held back from promising a large contribution and demanded a clearer definition of the mission and the rules of engagement.

Annan said he asked France — which dramatically increased its pledged contribution to 2,000 troops late Thursday — to lead the 15,000-member mission until February 2007.

France asks for arms-free zone
French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said Annan gave guarantees for the safety of European troops and on rules of engagement, and that France wanted an arms-free “exclusion zone” in south Lebanon.

“We think the best solution for disarming Hezbollah is to make an exclusion zone with the retreat of the Israeli army on one side and the deployment of the Lebanese army on the other, reinforced by the U.N. troops,” he said.

“Our objective is clear, to disarm Hezbollah,” Douste-Blazy said, but added that military force was not the answer. “The only solution is to have a political solution.”

Annan said Hezbollah could not be disarmed by force.

“The troops are not going there to disarm Hezbollah, let’s be clear on that,” he said.

Douste-Blazy said he hoped all five permanent U.N. Security Council members — the United States, China, Britain and Russia, in addition to France — will send troops to participate in the force.

“The Europeans should not be the only ones. We hope particularly that the permanent members of the Security Council will participate, as well as Muslim countries,” he said.

The United States has explicitly ruled out participation in the peacekeeping force. The U.S. often provides logistics for U.N. peacekeeping forces — which it is expected to do in Lebanon — but as a rule it does not provide troops unless it is commanding the force.

Finnish Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja said the entire U.N. force should be in place within two to three months. Annan said he hoped the force would be able to start deploying in “days, not weeks.”

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