Italy urges Lebanon to deploy army

Italy’s foreign minister today urged the Lebanese government today to deploy its army in southern Lebanon, claiming Italian troops could join a UN force within two weeks.

Foreign Minister Massimo D’Alema urged the Lebanese government to “act immediately” and send its army south to ensure a speedy withdrawal of Israeli forces.

“I think that we have to deploy the international force on the ground as soon as possible because this is the condition for the withdrawal of the Israeli forces,” he told a news conference with his Lebanese counterpart, Fawzi Salloukh.

He said Italy was working with the United Nations “and it depends on the Lebanese government because the Lebanese army has to deploy in the south of the country”.

A force of 15,000 Lebanese soldiers and an equal number of UN peacekeepers are envisioned as a buffer force to separate the warring sides. Mr D’Alema said Italy was ready to participate.

“I think that Italian soldiers can arrive here in a few days,” he said. “That means two weeks, 10 days and we can achieve the withdrawal of the Israeli soldiers.”

Italy’s willingness to contribute forces in Lebanon won praise from US President George Bush.

In a telephone call with Italian premier Romano Prodi, Mr Bush said the decision to contribute troops to a UN force was “strong and brave”, and that Italy could have an important political role in helping to find solutions to the region’s problems.

During his visit, Mr D’Alema toured the southern suburbs of Beirut, the Shia neighbourhood strongholds of Hezbollah which were repeatedly pounded by Israeli warplanes.

The head of the UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon also said today he wanted reinforcements “as soon as possible”, and warned that the situation in the Middle East remained fragile.

French Major General Alain Pellegrini, who heads the 2,000-strong Unifil force in southern Lebanon, said in a telephone interview that the region is “not safe from a provocation, or a stray act, that could undermine everything”.