Italy says Lebanon war shows futility of military force

CAIRO, Aug 15 (Reuters) Italy's foreign minister, whose country could contribute up to 3,000 troops to a UN force for Lebanon, said the war there had shown the futility of military force.

Foreign Minister Massimo D'Alema spoke in Cairo as a UN truce between Israel and Hizbollah held for a second day, ending more than a month of fighting that erupted after Hizbollah captured two Israeli soldiers on July 12.

''The war in Lebanon has proved to all that military force will solve nothing. The use of military force leads to nothing except the rise of extremism and terrorism,'' D'Alema told reporters after meeting Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

D'Alema, speaking in Italian through an Arabic translator, said that the next two weeks would be ''critical and sensitive''.

About 1,110 people in Lebanon and 157 Israelis were killed in the conflict.

A UN resolution to end the violence envisages up to 15,000 UN troops moving into Lebanon to enforce a ceasefire between Israel and Hizbollah guerrillas, expanding the existing UN Interim Force in Lebanon.

Israel wants the force, expected to be led by France, to be strong enough to confront and disarm Hizbollah, but Lebanon objects to any mandate for the peacekeepers that would authorise the use of force.

Italian Defence Ministry officials have said up to 3,000 Italian troops could be deployed as part of the Lebanon force.

Prime Minister Romano Prodi said it must have a clear-cut mandate.

REUTERS KD VC1842