Italy to Join "Peace Mission" in S.Lebanon

2006-08-19 13:20:18 CRIENGLISH.com

Italy's government formally agreed on Friday to send peacekeeping troops to Lebanon, saying that the number of troops would be decided later.

Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi told reporters in Rome that Italy would join the peace-keeping process.

"The UN resolution is our point of reference. We want to make our contribution to peace within this field and with clear and definite ground rules. The articles of the document approved by the UN do not leave room for misunderstandings: this is and will be a peace mission."

The prime minister said more definite decisions would be made in the next few days.

Italy had said it could quickly send as many as 3,000 soldiers to southern Lebanon to back up the existing United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon.

The UN force is expected to work with Lebanese soldiers, who began deploying on Thursday south of the Litani River, about 30 kilometres from the Israeli border.

The Lebanese army's deployment marked the first step towards extending government control in the Hezbollah stronghold.

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