UN assembles soldiers for Lebanon duty

Published on Saturday 26 August 2006 12:39

THE UN has found almost all of the troops it needs to carry out peacekeeping work in Lebanon.

Up to 7000 troops from EU states have been pledged to help maintain the cease-fire between Hezbollah and Lebanon, in addition to "significant" offers from countries in Asia.

France is to currently leading the peacekeeping force, called Unifil 2, while Italy will step up to take its place from February - a role which Italian Premier Romano Prodi has said the country would be happy to accept.

Some of the soldiers are to be on the ground in southern Lebanon in a week, but Erkki Tuomioja, foreign minister of Finland, which holds the EU presidency, said it could be two to three months before the deployment of all 15,000 troops agreed by the UN is complete.

UN spokesman Edward Mortimer added he hoped that Turkey would also make an offer of troops - which would be especially significant because of its position close to the Middle East and its history.