French Offer Few Troops for U.N. Effort in Lebanon

The U.N. scrambled Thursday to assemble a peacekeeping force for Lebanon after an offer of only 200 troops from France, which had been expected to provide thousands.

A handful of countries made firm commitments at a meeting in which Deputy Secretary-General Mark Malloch Brown asked for 3,500 troops to arrive in southern Lebanon within 10 days to augment the U.N. force of 2,000 already there. Italy and Spain, which are expected to be Europe’s largest contributors, said they have to get the approval of their Cabinets and study the rules of engagement before making specific offers.

Potential donors questioned U.N. officials closely on the rules for the peacekeeping force of up to 15,000 that was authorized by a U.N. resolution Aug. 11.

On Thursday, Israeli troops withdrew from three sectors in Lebanon as the fragile truce held for a fourth day. As the pullout continues, the United Nations force is to deploy alongside 15,000 Lebanese troops.

“The current cessation of hostilities is not going to be stable for long,” Malloch Brown said. “It has to move toward a permanent disengagement and cease-fire.”

Malloch Brown said the disarmament of Hezbollah would be largely left up to the Lebanese army. The U.N. force would help block weapons or soldiers from entering Lebanon, prevent hostilities from resuming and aid humanitarian efforts.

But he said there might be times when peacekeepers would need to use force.

“The challenge is that we would encounter ... small groups trying to smuggle in arms and carry in arms. And in those cases, if they do not voluntarily disarm when confronted by our troops, and forcefully resist disarmament, we will indeed employ force ourselves to disarm them,” he said.

Some countries had demanded that their troops have the right to take offensive action if necessary. Others were willing to contribute soldiers only if they would not have to engage Hezbollah.

France’s offer of 200 engineers and a backup contingent of 1,700 troops at sea who would not come under U.N. authority fell far below expectations, and U.N. officials feared it would discourage other countries from contributing. France, as the co-sponsor of the resolution and a former colonial power in Lebanon, led the diplomatic negotiations that resulted in the halt in fighting Monday.

“We were disappointed, yes,” Malloch Brown said. “We had hoped that France would be able to do more.”

But he said that enough countries stepped forward to make him “relatively optimistic” that the U.N. could get the 3,500 troops on the ground in 10 days. Diplomats who were at the meeting were less hopeful.

Bangladesh offered two mechanized battalions and Indonesia, Malaysia and Nepal each offered one. Denmark volunteered two ships to patrol the coast. Britain offered six Jaguar aircraft, two AWACS reconnaissance planes and a frigate. German Ambassador Thomas Matussek said his country offered a naval and air force strong enough “to secure the whole Lebanese coast.”

Germany also offered police and border units to monitor the Syrian frontier, subject to approval by its Parliament.

Egypt, Belgium, Monaco, New Zealand and Norway also said they would study the rules of engagement before making a decision.

The United States will not contribute troops to the international force, said Marine Corps Gen. James L. Jones, head of the Pentagon’s European Command. But he said U.S. military involvement may include logistics and communications assistance.

In Washington, R. Nicholas Burns, the U.S. undersecretary of State for political affairs, said there had been no pressure from Europe to contribute troops to the mission.

Burns said the U.S. was pushing for the U.N. force to intercept arms shipments at nine Syrian border crossings and to prevent Hezbollah from rebuilding bunkers or missile launch sites along the Israeli border.

Military analysts questioned Thursday whether the limited role prescribed for the U.N. force would significantly stunt Hezbollah’s ambitions.

Anthony H. Cordesman, an analyst with the Center for Strategic and International Studies who just returned from meetings with leading Israeli military and intelligence officials, said most Iranian- and Syrian-supplied rockets were too mobile to be effectively interdicted.

Cordesman added that the destruction of Hezbollah’s bunkers was unlikely to hinder the militia, since its fighters found it equally effective to use urban areas for protection against Israeli attacks.

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Times staff writers Julian E. Barnes and Peter Spiegel in Washington contributed to this report.