UN renew attempt to raise troops for Lebanon
European Union nations will today make a renewed attempt to raise troops for a UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon, but many remain wary of committing soldiers without safeguards to ensure they don’t get sucked into the Middle East conflict.
The Brussels gathering of senior foreign and defence ministry officials from the 25 EU nations will prepare a meeting of foreign ministers hastily called for Friday in an effort overcome delays in securing contributions to the 15,000 strong UN force.
Diplomats said today’s talks were unlikely to produce a breakthrough, but there are expectations nations may come forward with at least tentative offers of more troops.
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan is set to attend Friday’s meeting to press for the Europeans to urgently send troops to underpin the ceasefire.
Terje Roed-Larsen, Annan’s envoy to the region, warned yesterday that “until the Lebanese force is completely deployed and has asserted its full authority and until there is a robust peacekeeping force there...there will be, up to a point, a security vacuum”.
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