UN requires peace mandate to send in troops

THE UN again postponed a meeting of nations that could send peacekeepers to south Lebanon, saying talks about sending troops were pointless before there was progress on peace between Israel and Hezbollah.

Diplomats still claimed substantial progress toward agreement on a peace plan, saying there was general consensus on the elements required for a lasting solution. Those include halting the fighting, disarming Hezbollah, deploying peacekeepers and creating a buffer zone in south Lebanon free of Hezbollah militants and Israeli troops.

“I’m confident that by tomorrow we’ll be in a position to have discussions in the council on a text which actually takes us forward,” Britain’s UN Ambassador Emyr Jones-Parry said.

The diplomats are debating a French draft resolution that would impose that framework for peace and lay the conditions for a peacekeeping force.

But France, considered a possible leader of a peacekeeping force, wants fighting to stop immediately to create the political framework and then to send the troops. It has refused to take part in a meeting of nations willing to contribute troops, which led the UN to postpone the meeting twice.

Israel, with US backing, has vowed to push ahead with its military campaign until the peacekeepers are deployed. The UN backs France’s view.

UN spokesman Ahmad Fawzi said: “If you don’t have a mandate, how can you decide what kind of force you need?”

US Ambassador John Bolton raised the possibility of two different types of international force.

One idea is that the first could help disarm Hezbollah, and its mandate and composition would change to a standard peacekeeping mission after Hezbollah is out of south Lebanon. Another idea would involve strengthening the UN force known as UNIFIL.

France, Italy, Germany, Ireland and Turkey are considering joining a multinational force. Other European countries could also follow suit.