UN envoys to meet Israeli officials

By Gideon Long

BEIRUT (Reuters) – United Nations envoys will meet Israeli
officials on Monday after expressing fears that a week-long
truce between Israel and Lebanese Hizbollah guerrillas might
unravel, leading to further bloodshed.

Terje Roed-Larsen and Vijay Nambiar will hold talks in
Jerusalem following their weekend visit to Beirut, where they
urged both sides in the recent 34-day war to show restraint.

“We are at the tilting edge still,” Roed-Larsen warned at
the end of the visit. “This can easily start sliding again and
lead us quickly into the abyss of violence and bloodshed.”

The U.N. is trying to assemble a 15,000-strong
international force in southern Lebanon, to keep the peace
alongside a similar sized Lebanese contingent which is
gradually being unfolded.

The New York-based body already has 2,000 soldiers in the
area and, under the terms of Security Council resolution 1701
which ended the war, has committed itself to getting another
3,500 there by September 2.

But so far, few countries have made significant
commitments. Some have complained that the rules of engagement
under which their soldiers would operate are ill-defined.

Vijay Nambiar, a U.N. envoy traveling with Roed-Larsen,
said he hoped those rules would be set “in the next few days.”

“We expect that that will generate interest among the major
troop contributing countries to commit troops in more concrete
terms,” Nambiar told reporters in Beirut.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has called for Italy to
lead the U.N. force, his office said in a statement.

The call was made in a telephone conversation between
Olmert and Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi and indicated
Italy’s chances of leading the force had increased following
France’s apparent reluctance to commit more than 200 additional
troops to Lebanon.

“It is important that Italy should lead the international
force and send troops to also oversee the Lebanon-Syria border
crossings,” the statement said.

EXPANDED FORCE

France has pledged to send only 200 extra troops to
Lebanon, disappointing Washington and the United Nations, which
had hoped the French contingent would form the backbone of an
expanded U.N. force.

A Lebanese government source said Prime Minister Fouad
Siniora spoke to Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi about the
international force.

“They (Italy) have a positive readiness and are more
enthusiastic than other parties but the discussions need more
calls with the Italians and the French,” the source said.

A senior Lebanese political source said 2,500 Italian
soldiers would take part in the U.N. force. He said the
Lebanese cabinet would meet on Monday and welcome the Italian
initiative.

The U.N. envoys said they also planned to discuss Israel’s
air and sea embargo of Lebanon, imposed at the start of the war
and still in place, despite the end of hostilities.

“The embargo is, of course, totally unhelpful to the living
conditions and the economy of Lebanon,” Roed-Larsen said.

However, he also said he recognized Israel’s concern that
the embargo was necessary to stop weapons being smuggled across
the Lebanese border to Hizbollah.

The Israelis say the Shi’ite Muslim group is supplied with
arms by both Iran and Syria, charges both countries deny.

Nambiar said he and Roed-Larsen expected to address the
vexed question of prisoners with the Israelis.

Israel and the U.N. are demanding the unconditional release
of two Israeli soldiers, whose seizure by Hizbollah guerrillas
on July 12 sparked the war.

Hizbollah says Israel will have to negotiate their release
in exchange for Lebanese and Arab prisoners in Israeli jails.

“I dare say that as we proceed to our next place
(Jerusalem), this will be an important issue that we will
address,” Nambiar said, adding it had been discussed
extensively with the Lebanese government.

The uneasy truce in Lebanon has been tested over the past
two days by an Israeli raid in the eastern Bekaa Valley which
the U.N. said was a violation of resolution 1701.

Israel said the raid was defensive and designed to disrupt
weapons supplies to Hizbollah. It denied it had violated the
U.N. resolution — which allows it to act in self-defence —
and accused Hizbollah of doing so by smuggling weapons.

The Lebanese government vowed on Sunday to crush any
attempt on the Lebanese side of the border to break the truce,
saying anyone attacking Israel would be considered a traitor.

“The army will be very tough in dealing with such an
issue,” Lebanese Defense Minister Elias al-Murr told a news
conference.

“Any rocket fired from Lebanon will benefit Israel,” he
said, suggesting such an incident would provide a pretext for
the Jewish state to attack Lebanon.

(Additional reporting by Tom Perry)