Bush says Lebanon needs U.N. troops urgently

BEIRUT, Aug 21: U S President George W Bush called today for the urgent deployment of a United Nations peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon to shore up a week-old truce between Israel and Hizbollah guerrillas.

''The international community must now designate the leadership of this international force, give it robust rules of engagement and deploy it as quickly as possible to secure the peace,'' Bush told a news conference in Washington.

Bush also announced a 230 million dollars aid package to Lebanon that includes 25,000 tonnes of wheat.

A U N truce last Monday halted the 34-day war between Israel and Hizbollah, in which nearly 1,200 people in Lebanon and 157 Israelis were killed. But assembling a strengthened U N force for Lebanon is proving difficult.

In Berlin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel described the situation in Lebanon as ''very fragile'' and also called for a swift deployment of U N troops to the south.

Italy emerged as the potential leader of such a force following telephone talks between Prime Minister Romano Prodi and his opposite numbers in Beirut and Jerusalem.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, hosting senior U N envoys in Jerusalem, spoke to Prodi late yesterday and said he would be happy to see the Italians in charge.

Italy's right-wing opposition warned the deployment could prove a ''kamikaze'' mission, but the Lebanese cabinet was expected to welcome Rome's initiative later today.

A senior Lebanese political source said 2,500 Italian soldiers would join the U N force in Lebanon, known as UNIFIL.

Despite Merkel's call for speed, Germany will not be sending combat troops, but will help patrol the Lebanese coast.

France had earlier been expected to lead the force but then dismayed the United Nations by offering only 200 troops to add to those it already has in the existing 2,000-strong UNIFIL.

The United Nations has vowed to move 3,500 extra troops to the south by September 2, but has received few firm offers of help.

ISRAELI OVERFLIGHTS Underlining the fragility of the truce, Israeli jets swooped low over the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli, witnesses said. Israel says it needs to patrol Lebanon's borders to prevent arms smuggling to Hizbollah, if Lebanese and U N troops are not doing the job. It launched a commando raid on a Hizbollah bastion in eastern Lebanon on Saturday, which the United Nations said violated the Security Council resolution that halted the war.

Israel said the helicopter-borne assault and air strikes were a defensive action to disrupt Hizbollah arms supplies.

The Lebanese army has deployed along the Syrian border and has moved deep into the shattered south as the Israelis leave.

Witnesses saw around 15 Lebanese tanks roll into the southern port of Tyre -- the first to arrive since the truce took hold.

The Israeli government came under further fire at home for its handling of the war, which failed to destroy Hizbollah or secure the release of two soldiers whose capture by Hizbollah in a cross-border raid on July 12 sparked the conflict.

Israeli reservists vented their anger at politicians and army officers for indecisiveness and other perceived failures.

''The government didn't take seriously the lives of our troops,'' said Zvi Marek, a reserve infantry soldier at a demonstration in Jerusalem.

In addition, Israeli Brigadier-General Yossi Heiman said the military had been guilty of arrogance in its approach.

Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and senior Olmert aides met two U N envoys to discuss Israel's continued air and sea blockade of Lebanon and the vexed issue of prisoner exchange, as well as Israel's commando raid in the Bekaa Valley.

One of the U N envoys, Terje Roed-Larsen, said after the talks there was ''reason for optimism'' that all parties would now fully respect the truce. He said he hoped Israel would lift its blockade gradually as Lebanon takes full control of its borders.

Roed-Larsen said the envoys had called for the transfer of the two Israeli soldiers to the Lebanese government under the auspices of the International Committee of the Red Cross.

In a sign that life is gradually returning to normal in Beirut, the Lebanese stock exchange lifted restrictions brought in during the war to limit price volatility. Trade was brisk and the benchmark BLOM Stock Index rose 5.8 per cent.

The emir of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, discussed aid plans in Beirut. He was the first head of state to visit Lebanon since the war began. Lebanese officials have said Qatar has offered to rebuild devastated villages in the south.

REUTERS