THE commander of UN troops in Lebanon overnight suggested that the rules of engagement for his forces might have to be changed to allow future use of force to stop continuing Israeli air violations of Lebanese air space.
General Alain Pellegrini, commander of the UNIFIL force in Lebanon, told a press briefing here that currently the UN was relying on diplomacy to try to end the violations.
"If the diplomatic means should not be enough, maybe it could be considered other ways," he said, referring to the possible use of anti-aircraft missiles equipping French forces in Lebanon.
But Gen Pellegrini made it clear that such a move would require "new rules of engagement drafted and decided here (at UN headquarters)".
He said the issue of Israeli incursions into Lebanese air space was "of major concern" for UNIFIL.
French Defense Minister Michele Alliot-Marie, who arrived in Washington yesterday for a four-day visit, raised the issue in talks with President George W. Bush's national security adviser, Stephen Hadley.
On a military level "the situation (in Lebanon) is calm but fragile", Ms Alliot-Marie told Mr Hadley yesterday.
She said that it was "important to avoid anything that may seem to revive the violence" such as Israeli air force flights over Lebanese air space.
UN diplomats played down Gen Pellegrini's suggestion and made it clear that there was no plan to change UN rules of engagement in Lebanon.
And Israel's UN envoy Dan Gillerman also cast doubt on Gen Pellegrini's remarks.
"General Pellegrini more than anybody else knows exactly why the UNIFIL force is there. It is not because of Israel," he said.
But Gen Pellegrini insisted that Israeli air violations were a "clear violation" of Security Council resolution 1701 which ended the month-long war between Israel and Hezbollah guerrillas in southern Lebanon in August.
"They are not to be accepted. Every time these occur, we report them first to the Secretary General immediately and we protest to the Israelis," Gen Pellegrini said.
He said that at the moment UNIFIL had "no other means to prevent these kinds of violations" than diplomacy.
But he pointedly said that the French contingent of UNIFIL was currently equipped with "anti-aircraft missiles but only for its self-defense".
"If I have this means to protect my soldiers, I'll use them, in self-defense only," he said.
Asked whether he was suggesting using force to stop the Israeli violations, he said: "This has to be considered".
Gen Pellegrini also touched on reports of continued weapons smuggling from Syria into Lebanon, in violation of Resolution 1701.
"We have not spotted any person with any weapons in the (UNIFIL) area of operation between the Litani River and the Blue Line border demarcation with Israel," the French general said.
He said that if smuggling did occur, "it was outside my area of operation, in the Bekaa Valley, along the border with Syria".
Mr Gillerman meanwhile said Israel was collecting evidence of alleged weapons smuggling from Syria.
"We are in the process of collecting this evidence and verifying it and as soon as we have what I believe will be clearcut and conclusive evidence we will present it," he told reporters.
Gen Pellegrini also said he was pleased with the "rapid expansion" of UNIFIL on the ground. He put the force's current strength at 7200 but said it would not reach its peak of 15,000 which was authorised by resolution 1701.
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