France said on Thursday it was ready to send an extra 1,600 troops to bolster a revamped U.N. force for Lebanon, bringing the total French contingent to 2,000 and making it easier to recruit other nations, Reuters reported. France initially offered only to double its force in Lebanon to 400, disappointing many U.N. diplomats who had expected Paris to provide the backbone of the mission. However, President Jacques Chirac said France decided to dispatch many more troops after winning assurances from the United Nations that the troops would be able to defend themselves fully if they came under attack and could use force to protect civilians. "Two thousand French troops will thus be placed under the United Nations in Lebanon. France is ready, if the United Nations wishes, to continue commanding this force," Chirac said in a televised address. Italy, which had promised 2,000 to 3,000 troops, earlier said it had won U.S. blessing for its leadership of the force and that it was confident Europe, especially France, would firm up its so far limited military commitment. Prime Minister Romano Prodi said President George W. Bush had told him by telephone of his "positive" view of Italy's offer to lead the force. He added Bush was also leaning on allies to offer troops. The Bush administration later welcomed Chirac's offer. "The president welcomes the decision by the French, as he has said an international force needs to be deployed urgently," White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said. The United Nations says a strengthened U.N. force in south Lebanon is urgently needed to preserve the fragile truce which came into effect on Aug. 14 after a month of fighting which killed more than 1,300 people, mostly Lebanese civilians. The force will help the Lebanese army control south Lebanon after the conflict between Israel and Hizbollah guerrillas. But wrangling over the mandate and the participants had made it hard for the United Nations to muster support for the mission. Syria and Israel are also at odds over whether it should deploy on the Syrian border to prevent arms smuggling. France sent 200 soldiers last week to join the 2,000-strong UNIFIL force which has been in south Lebanon since 1978. The United Nations has approved an expanded force of up to 15,000. In response to the dispute between Syria and Israel over deploying the U.N. force along the Syrian border, Lebanon undertook on Thursday to prevent smuggling. The government decided to seek technical assistance from Germany to help control the border with Syria but Information Minister Ghazi Aridi said the cabinet had not discussed requesting U.N. troops to deploy their. A cabinet statement said Prime Minister Fouad Siniora would contact German Chancellor Angela Merkel "to discuss providing the Lebanese army with equipment and technical capabilities that would enable it to secure land and sea borders through its own military forces". Syria threatened on Wednesday to close the border if the U.N. troops deploy there. Israel says it will not lift a sea and air blockade of Lebanon unless the U.N. force helps the Lebanese army ensure that no new weapons reach Hizbollah in the south. The truce ended a war in which nearly 1,200 people in Lebanon, mostly civilians, were killed, as well as 157 Israelis, mostly soldiers. The war erupted after Hizbollah captured two Israeli soldiers in a cross-border raid on July 12. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert promised more than $2 billion in reconstruction funds for the areas in northern Israel that were damaged during the war with Hizbollah. An opinion poll published on Thursday showed Olmert's centrist party had only half the public support it had gained in a March election, while backing for two rightist parties had doubled. Olmert acknowledged there had been failures in the war and promised an investigation. "The question is how to draw lessons from the achievements and from failures, from the responses we made and the failures we have had. A check into this will be conducted," he said. Israeli forces are also engaged in conflict with Palestinians in Gaza, where Israel is trying to free another captured soldier. On Thursday, Israelis killed three Palestinians and seized a senior member of the Hamas movement, Younis Abu Daqqa. One of those killed was Abu Daqqa's brother.
