BEIRUT—United Nations envoys will meet Israeli officials on Monday after expressing fears that a week-long truce between Israel and Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas might unravel, leading to further bloodshed.
Terje Roed-Larsen and Vijay Nambiar will hold talks in Jerusalem following their weekend visit to Beirut, where they urged both sides in the recent 34-day war to show restraint.
"We are at the tilting edge still," Roed-Larsen warned at the end of the visit. "This can easily start sliding again and lead us quickly into the abyss of violence and bloodshed."
The U.N. is trying to assemble a 15,000-strong international force in southern Lebanon, to keep the peace alongside a similar sized Lebanese contingent which is gradually being unfolded.
The New York-based body already has 2,000 soldiers in the area and, under the terms of Security Council resolution 1701 which ended the war, has committed itself to getting another 3,500 there by September 2.
But so far, few countries have made significant commitments. Some have complained that the rules of engagement under which their soldiers would operate are ill-defined.
Vijay Nambiar, a U.N. envoy traveling with Roed-Larsen, said he hoped those rules would be set "in the next few days".
"We expect that that will generate interest among the major troop contributing countries to commit troops in more concrete terms," Nambiar told reporters in Beirut.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has called for Italy to lead the U.N. force, his office said in a statement.
The call was made in a telephone conversation between Olmert and Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi and indicated Italy's chances of leading the force had increased following France's apparent reluctance to commit more than 200 additional troops to Lebanon.
"It is important that Italy should lead the international force and send troops to also oversee the Lebanon-Syria border crossings," the statement said.
Expanded Force
France has pledged to send only 200 extra troops to Lebanon, disappointing Washington and the United Nations, which had hoped the French contingent would form the backbone of an expanded U.N. force.
A Lebanese government source said Prime Minister Fouad Siniora spoke to Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi about the international force.
"They (Italy) have a positive readiness and are more enthusiastic than other parties but the discussions need more calls with the Italians and the French," the source said.
A senior Lebanese political source said 2,500 Italian soldiers would take part in the U.N. force. He said the Lebanese cabinet would meet on Monday and welcome the Italian initiative.
The U.N. envoys said they also planned to discuss Israel's air and sea embargo of Lebanon, imposed at the start of the war and still in place, despite the end of hostilities.
"The embargo is, of course, totally unhelpful to the living conditions and the economy of Lebanon," Roed-Larsen said.
However, he also said he recognized Israel's concern that the embargo was necessary to stop weapons being smuggled across the Lebanese border to Hezbollah.
The Israelis say the Shi'ite Muslim group is supplied with arms by both Iran and Syria, charges both countries deny.
Nambiar said he and Roed-Larsen expected to address the vexed question of prisoners with the Israelis.
Israel and the U.N. are demanding the unconditional release of two Israeli soldiers, whose seizure by Hezbollah guerrillas on July 12 sparked the war.
Hezbollah says Israel will have to negotiate their release in exchange for Lebanese and Arab prisoners in Israeli jails.
"I dare say that as we proceed to our next place (Jerusalem), this will be an important issue that we will address," Nambiar said, adding it had been discussed extensively with the Lebanese government.
The uneasy truce in Lebanon has been tested over the past two days by an Israeli raid in the eastern Bekaa Valley which the U.N. said was a violation of resolution 1701.
Israel said the raid was defensive and designed to disrupt weapons supplies to Hezbollah. It denied it had violated the U.N. resolution—which allows it to act in self-defence—and accused Hezbollah of doing so by smuggling weapons.
The Lebanese government vowed on Sunday to crush any attempt on the Lebanese side of the border to break the truce, saying anyone attacking Israel would be considered a traitor.
"The army will be very tough in dealing with such an issue," Lebanese Defense Minister Elias al-Murr told a news conference.
"Any rocket fired from Lebanon will benefit Israel," he said, suggesting such an incident would provide a pretext for the Jewish state to attack Lebanon.
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