French President Jacques Chirac spoke by telephone with the prime ministers of Italy, Turkey and Finland on Saturday about the expanded U.N. peacekeeping force in Lebanon, the Elysee presidential palace said. France, which commands the current 2,000-strong force known as UNIFIL, has stressed the force needs a clear mandate to operate effectively _ a position echoed by Italy, which has agreed to supply extra troops for the force but has not specified how many. The United Nations said on Friday more European soldiers were needed for a vanguard force of 3,500 troops that the U.N. wants on the ground by Aug. 28 to enforce a cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah group Chirac discussed the composition and future mandate of the expanded UNIFIL force with Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Finnish Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen, his office said in a statement. «Regarding the composition of the reinforced UNIFIL, the president insisted on the essential balance of the distribution of contingents, which must reflect the involvement of the whole international community, and in particular of the European countries,» it was quoted as saying by the Associated Press. He also stressed «the need to clarify very rapidly the missions, the rules of engagement, the chain of command and the means of the reinforced UNIFIL,» the statement added. Prodi has said Italy could quickly send as many as 3,000 soldiers. Finland formally decided to send up to 250 peacekeepers to Lebanon, but said they would not be deployed until November. Turkey has indicated it will contribute troops but wants to study the operational plans for the force and the rules of engagement before making any decisions. The United Nations has been seeking a balance of European and Muslim troops so that Israel and Lebanon will view the force as legitimate. France had been expected to make a significant new contribution that would form the backbone of the expanded force. But Chirac disappointed the U.N. by announcing it would contribute just 200 combat engineers to its current 200-member contingent in Lebanon.
