The United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan has said that he believes he is able to convince some major European countries to supply 15,000 troops for the peacekeeping forces to move into southern Lebanon.

|PIC1|Annan reported, “I came with the hope that I will leave Brussels with a large number of soldiers.”

The UN head was speaking prior to an emergency meeting of European Union foreign ministers on Friday. A UN resolution has called for the force in Lebanon to expand from 2,000 troops to 15,000.

French President Jacques Chirac on Thursday promised 2,000 troops from his country, saying he believed the territory in question was too small to require 15,000 troops.

"My feeling is that the figure that was put forward at the beginning of discussions — 15,000 for a reinforced UNIFIL — was a figure that was quite excessive," he said.

So far, a majority of the EU's 25 members have been reluctant to provide troops for the peacekeeping effort because of uncertainty about the conditions under which troops would be authorised to use force.

|TOP|However, Chirac's pledge of troops, as well as his offer to continue leading the force, is hoped to be the platform which can generate momentum for a breakthrough at the meeting of EU foreign ministers. Chirac cited the bolstered U.N. mandate as the chief reason to greatly increase France's troop presence.

In addition Italy has already pledged to provide up to 3,000 soldiers, which is the largest contingent so far. Other nations pondering making contributions also include Spain, Denmark, Hungary, Germany, and Greece.

The Belgian government also on Friday reported that, although hesitant at first, would now contribute troops.

Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt said, “It is our duty to take part and Belgium will take up its responsibility.”|AD|

The appeal towards Europe for troops has been made with a motive to balance pledges from several Muslim countries, so the force will be acceptable to both the Israelis and Lebanese.

EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said, “I am confident that Europe will provide the necessary support to expand the UNIFIL force to help the government of Lebanon extend its control over all Lebanese territory.”

Although ambiguities remain in the UN resolution, it does now specifically authorise an expanded force “to take all necessary action” to prevent hostile activities wherever peacekeepers are stationed.

It has been generally agreed that the new UNIFIL will not forcibly disarm Hezbollah, but will only oversee a political solution that would induce the militia to give up its weapons to the Lebanese army.