Defence forces too ‘stretched’ to commit to UN force

FOREIGN Affairs Minister Dermot Ahern yesterday said violence would not resolve the crisis in the Middle East, but again made clear the Government’s reluctance to commit troops to a UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon.

Mr Ahern said that if the conflict continued unchecked, it could lead to a “third world war”.

The Government was remaining in direct contact with all governments in the region “to encourage a diplomatic solution”, he added.

“There will be no military solution to the immediate crisis or to its underlying causes — the only way forward for the people of Israel, Palestine, Lebanon and their neighbours is an end to the violence and then a return to political negotiations,” Mr Ahern told the cross-party Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs.

The proposal by UN secretary general Kofi Annan of a new peacekeeping force in Lebanon “could be a fruitful possibility but the difficulties are also apparent”, he said.

Questioned by committee members about remarks he made on Monday, Mr Ahern reiterated his view that the Defence Forces were already heavily committed to peacekeeping operations around the world and would be unlikely to send troops to Lebanon.

“I did say that we are stretched as a nation, and that we probably have the highest proportion of peacekeeping troop participation at this moment in time, and that a lot of other countries, not least countries like China and others, have plenty of troops and have a very low participation in peacekeeping,” Mr Ahern said.

But Labour TD Joe Costello accused the minister of speaking prematurely, as it wasn’t his decision to make.

Under the so-called “triple lock” mechanism, any commitment of Irish troops overseas requires a UN mandate and the approval of both the Government and the Dáil.

But Mr Ahern responded: “I answered the question that was put to me… I could have hid behind the usual statement that of course that’s a matter for the Government to decide.”

Separately, Defence Minister Willie O’Dea endorsed Mr Ahern’s views. A spokesperson for Mr O’Dea said Ireland currently had 17 officers serving in Lebanon and would not be adding to that number.

Meanwhile, Mr Ahern condemned both the actions of Hezbollah, whose attacks on Israel “were cynically calculated to widen and deepen the conflict” and the “disproportionate” response of the latter.

“Israel has a legitimate right to defend its citizens, but this must not be at the expense of the lives and welfare of the Lebanese and Palestinian civilians,” he said.