DUBAI, 19 August 2006 — Pakistan will consider possible participation in a UN force in south Lebanon but will only send troops if they would be “welcomed” by all parties to the conflict, Pakistani Foreign Minister Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri said yesterday.
“We are looking at how the UN Security Council resolution is unfolding,” Kasuri told reporters in Dubai, where he stopped over on his way home after visits to Lebanon and Syria.
Kasuri, who made the visits as part of a contact group of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, said that during talks in Beirut earlier this week, Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora stated that “he would be very happy if Pakistan were to contribute troops” to the force. “He mentioned Pakistan, Turkey and Malaysia in particular,” Kasuri said.
“I will be reporting to the president and the prime minister and we will then study the situation,” he said.
Kasuri said that in addition to watching the implementation of UN Resolution 1701 that halted the hostilities on Monday, Islamabad would be “looking at the internal Lebanese dialogue” and gauging public opinion at home before deciding whether it will participate in the force. “Pakistan is the world’s largest contributor to peacekeeping operations...If we can help in Congo and other parts of Africa, Lebanon is closer home...(But) we would only go if we felt that our troops would be genuinely welcomed by all parties,” he said.
Italy yesterday became the latest country to announce it will contribute to the UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon.
The United Nations says it wants to have 3,500 troops on the ground within 10 days and an eventual force of around 15,000 to police the fragile cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah fighters alongside Lebanese Army troops.
UN sources in New York said overnight that at least six nations — Bangladesh, Denmark, Germany, Indonesia, Malaysia and Nepal — had already made definite offers of contributions.
