Annan Visits Un Peacekeepers in Lebanon

The UN secretary general visited UN peacekeepers in southern Lebanon today as the first Italian troops set out to join the Unifil force in the war-torn region.

At the start of an 11-day tour to the region that will also take him to Israel, Syria and Iran, Kofi Annan visited the Unifil headquarters. He then flew along the Israeli-Lebanese border to visit the Unifil post in Khiyam where four UN peacekeepers were killed by Israeli bomb attacks in the second week of the conflict.

Annan also held talks with Lebanese leaders and toured parts of Beirut bombed out during the month-long war, and criticised Israeli and Hizbullah leaders for failing to carry out their obligations under the UN resolution that ended the war.

"Without the full implementation of resolution 1701, I fear the risk is great for renewal of hostilities," he said.

At the Unifil headquarters in Naquora, he laid a wreath for peacekeepers killed in nearly three decades of the force's presence in southern Lebanon, including those who died in the Khiyam attacks.

In particular, he cited Israel's refusal to lift its air and sea blockade of Lebanon, and Hizbullah's failure to return two Israeli troops whose capture in a border skirmish on July 12 ignited the conflict. There have been reports in recent days that the group is negotiating the release of the soldiers.

Under the terms of the resolution, the UN will provide 15,000 troops in southern Lebanon alongside a 15,000-strong Lebanese army force, allowing Israel's estimated 30,000 troops to withdraw from the country. A significant proportion of that Israeli force is now thought to have withdrawn.

The peacekeepers are expected to take control of the region from the Hizbullah fighters who have dominated since Israel withdrew from southern Lebanon in 2000. Arguments remain over whether they should also disarm the guerrilla group, with Israel insisting on disarmament but Lebanese and international officials saying it is not required by the resolution.

Although the Lebanese army is fully deployed, hurdles still remain in the assembly of the UN peacekeeping force. Roughly 800 Italian troops departed from southern Italy today, the first of a 2,500-strong contingent that will join 2,000 existing Unifil troops.

Mr Annan's office said yesterday that European countries were expected to provide around 9,000 soldiers for the force, and the Organisation of the Islamic Conference has offered up to 7,000 troops.

However, Israel has said it will not accept peacekeepers from countries that do not have diplomatic relations with it because of fears that their citizens would covertly support Hizbullah. The requirement is likely to rule out many potential Muslim donors, such as Malaysia.

Turkey, an officially secular country that is one of Israel's closest Muslim allies, yesterday voted to send an unspecified number of troops for the Unifil force.