Malaysia has said it wants to send peacekeepers to Lebanon despite Israel saying it might oppose the inclusion of nations that do not have diplomatic ties with the Jewish state. Malaysia and Indonesia have each offered to send 1,000 troops as part of a planned UN force for southern Lebanon. The two Muslim states have no diplomatic relations with Israel and strongly back the Palestinian cause. "There is no reason whatsoever to stop us from serving in southern Lebanon," Malaysian Defence Minister Najib Razak said. "We will definitely send our force pending a decision by the UN. "I do not see why they are using such a technical aspect to stop us from sending our men there," he told reporters.
Objecting to Israel's very existence is a mere technicality??
Objections from Israel could complicate efforts by the United Nations to quickly assemble a force for southern Lebanon to enforce the ceasefire between Israel and Hizbollah that took effect on Monday. A UN Security Council resolution calls for the deployment of up to 15,000 troops. But a senior UN official said he doubted enough countries would come forward to reach that goal any time soon.
"Israel has informed the UN in no uncertain terms that it will not accept any countries in the force that do not have diplomatic relations with Israel," a senior Israeli official told Reuters in Jerusalem on Wednesday. He was speaking on condition of anonymity. Malaysia last week urged countries to cut diplomatic ties with Israel to protest against the war in Lebanon.
The European Union's Minister of Appeasement foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, over the weekend listed Malaysia and Indonesia among the non-EU countries prepared to join the international force, that France is expected to lead. |