Annan sends two envoys to West Asia

United Nations, Aug 17 (UNI) United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan is sending a high-level mission to Lebanon and Israel to talk to leaders of the two countries about how to implement last Friday's Security Council resolution on the conflict in West Asia.

Stephane Dujarric, a spokesman for Mr Annan, told reporters yesterday at UN headquarters in New York that the UN chief is dispatching his Special Political Advisor Vijay K Nambiar and his Special Envoy Terje Roed-Larsen, who are scheduled to leave tomorrow and then return next week.

Mr Nambiar, a former envoy of India to the United Nations, is a career diplomat.

The full programme of meetings for Mr Nambiar and Mr Roed-Larsen has not yet been set, Mr Dujarric added, but their role will be to help Mr Annan fulfil his duties under the Council resolution to help the parties meet their commitments.

In New York yesterday, Mr Annan also held a meeting with Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni of Israel about the current situation. Speaking to reporters after meeting the UN chief, Ms Livni said, ''Part of the discussion that had with Mr Annan assured me that we have the same goals.'' The Israeli minister spoke to reporters at the UN Correspondents Association office premises.

Mr Nambiar and Mr Roed-Larsen will set off as Deputy Secretary-General Mark Malloch Brown heads a meeting at UN headquarters of potential troop contributing countries for the expanded UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).

Resolution 1701, passed unanimously by the Council, called for an expanded force of up to 15,000 peacekeepers to help the Lebanese army deploy 15,000 of its own troops to exert control over the country's southern flank as the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) simultaneously withdraws from those areas it occupies. This expansion was slated to follow a cessation of hostilities between the IDF and Hizbollah, which came into effect on Monday morning.

A senior UN official yesterday said the world organisation wants to see a strengthened UNIFIL as soon as practicable, with a vanguard unit of some 3,000 or 3,500 troops possibly in place on the ground within the next 10 days or so. He called for firm commitments from nations at tomorrow's meeting of potential troop contributors.

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