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R0ME, Italy, July 27 (UPI) -- Participants in the Rome conference on the conflict in Lebanon have agreed on sending a peace-keeping force to the region.
The disagreement is on who would be in this force, what its mandate would be and what organization would sponsor it.
Both U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan and French President Jacques Chirac said that NATO would not be appropriate.
"Whether we like it or not, NATO is perceived as the armed wing of the West in these regions, and as a result, in terms of image, NATO is not intended for this," Chirac said in an interview with Le Monde.
The United States, which has said it would not contribute troops to any Mideast peace-keeping force, and Israel reportedly favor NATO.
The Rome meeting issued a statement favoring U.N. peacekeepers.
"An international force in Lebanon should urgently be authorized under a UN mandate to support a Lebanese armed force to provide a secure environment,'' it said.
France, a country with close ties to Lebanon, would be likely to lead the force, the New York Times reported. Chirac said that no French troops would be deployed without a cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah.
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