Israel wants UN to patrol Syrian border for weapons

UNITED NATIONS, Aug 17: Israel's foreign minister has urged UN peacekeepers to enforce an arms embargo to prevent Hizbollah guerrillas from getting weapons from their backers in Iran and Syria.

Tzipi Livni, at the United Nations for meetings with Secretary-General Kofi Annan and U.S. Ambassador John Bolton, said enforcement of the arms ban was crucial for the region and the Lebanese army could not do it by itself.

''Nobody can talk of disarming Hizbollah when meanwhile we can see a process of rearming Hizbollah,'' Livni told reporters. ''There is a need for this disarming to be effective.'' She said Lebanese monitoring of borders was ''not enough'' and UN peacekeepers, known as UNIFIL, had to help ''prevent rearmament.'' The UN Security Council adopted a resolution last Friday that called or a truce in the more than one-month war between Israel and Hizbollah, authorized up to 15,000 UN troops and imposed an arms embargo. The embargo is to be enforced by the Lebanese army, which can ask UN troops for assistance.

Livni said she told Annan that ''enforcing the arms embargo is crucial'' and discussed ''ways to do it.'' She skirted the issue of how Israel would press for the return of two Israeli soldiers, abducted by Hizbollah in a cross-border raid on July 12 that provoked the conflict.

Livni noted that the Security Council's Friday resolution 1701 called for their unconditional release but would not comment on bargaining with Hizbollah about prisoners captured by Israel during the current conflict.

''Because this issue is so sensitive I don't want to enter a kind of discussion of exchanging or not,'' Livni said.

The minister also said she expected troops from Muslim countries to make up part of the UN force, but not any of ''Israel's enemies.''

FRANCE AND TROOP CONTRIBUTORS

''It is going to be a mixed force, and I don't want to say about one state 'yes' or the other 'no' right now, but this was part of the discussions that I had with the secretary general,'' Livni said.

In Jerusalem, a senior Israeli official told Reuters his country may not accept countries that have no diplomatic relations with Israel. Malaysia and Indonesia have offered to send troops but have no diplomatic ties with Israel. In general, Livni was upbeat about the planned deployment of a stronger UN force in Lebanon and the Beirut government's movement of troops to the south as Israeli soldiers withdraw.

''I know the situation is sensitive. I know the situation is explosive in a way, and we are working together -- the Israeli army with the Lebanese army, plus UNIFIL,'' she said.

''So let's be positive. Let's hope that this time there is an opportunity to make this change,'' she said. ''I think this is a moment of truth for the international community.'' France, which has been negotiating with the United Nations on ground rules for the new peacekeeping force, said on Wednesday it was ready to lead the operation. But Defense Minister Michele Alliot-Marie, in a television broadcast, did not say how many soldiers Paris would send.

France's hesitancy is bound to have an impact on troop contributors, meeting on Thursday. In addition to France, military planners from the United States, Britain, Italy and other nations have been working with the UN staff.

British Ambassador Emyr Jones Parry told reporters he hoped nations would make offers after the Thursday meeting.

''I think you will see early agreement to what the mandate implementation should be, by that I mean actually the concept of operations and the rules of engagement,'' he said.

''And the countries will then be reassured and will make the offers,'' he said before France's announcement.

REUTERS