The United Nations Secretariat in New York will hold a troop contributor meeting this Thursday to assess the possible formation of a force to be stationed in Lebanon as part of the solution to the current crisis between Lebanon and Israel. “The meeting will deal with the formation of the force and the composition of the force,” said Ahmad Fawzi, U.N. Director of Media and News. He added that the meeting, organized by the U.N. department of peacekeeping, will be chaired by its top official, Jean-Marie Guehenno. Around 40 member states were contacted by letter today to attend the meeting on Thursday, including countries who have already contributed troops to peacekeeping operations in the region, such as France, Canada, China, and Ghana, among others. This is the first meeting being held regarding a possible U.N. peacekeeping force, but it is too early to discuss specifics, according to Fawzi. Additionally, how many troops and exactly what they would be doing in Lebanon would de up for the Security Council to decide. “It all depends on the mandate they get from the Security Council resolution,” said Fawzi, referring to the current political process among council members. France, U.K., US, Russia, and China attended a private meeting at U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan's residence Tuesday morning to discuss ideas about a council resolution. France has proposed an immediate cease-fire in the resolution presented to the council, while US Ambassador John Bolton told reporters last week that an alternate US resolution was in the making. One mandate currently being discussed is an immediate ‘coalition of the willing', where troops from various U.N. member states would deploy immediately to the region where their sheer presence would help quell the fighting, according to a U.N. diplomat. That way, two contingents could be shipped out—one immediately, one later—in order to create the atmosphere for a cease-fire. The troop contributor meeting was originally scheduled for last Monday, but was postponed. Bolton told reporters on Monday it was due to a logistical scheduling problem, while French Ambassador Jean-Marc de la Sabliere contradicted Bolton's statement, saying that the French did not feel the time was right yet for the meeting. Although the US was the major player in scheduling the meeting it does not plan to contribute troops, said a diplomat close to the discussion.
