Ban Urges Italy to Maintain Current Presence in Lebanon

U.N. Secretary Ban Ki-moon has voiced hope that Italy will not draw down its peacekeeping force in Lebanon in the wake of the recent attack on its contingent in the south.

"I hope that Italy will maintain the current levels of its Lebanon contingent, in spite of the tragic attack on the Italian UNIFIL convoy," Ban told ANSA news agency on Wednesday.

A roadside bomb struck a UNIFIL logistics convoy on the main highway near the southern port city of Sidon last Friday, wounding six Italian peacekeepers, one of them critically, and two Lebanese civilians.

Italy's defense minister Ignazio La Russa has said that his nation's contingent might be sharply reduced.

La Russa told La Repubblica newspaper that Italy is considering cutting its contingent from the 1,700 soldiers now to some 1,100 troops. "As we are no longer in command of the mission, then we should reduce our contribution as soon as possible," he noted.

Italy has "no intention of abandoning Lebanon unilaterally," but it has "too many" soldiers deployed there, the minister added.

The blast came as fears of security breaches are mounting in Lebanon, which has entered its fifth month without a government. There are also fears the unrest in neighboring Syria could spill over into the country.

The Italian contingent is the largest of the 12,000-strong U.N. peacekeeping force. Over 250 UNIFIL personnel have been killed since the force first deployed to southern Lebanon in 1978.

"Italy is a peace-loving country, and as such fully shares the U.N.'s objectives," said Ban, adding that he will speak about it personally with the Italian premier, Silvio Berlusconi. The Secretary-General is among 80 foreign delegations now in Rome to celebrate Italy's 150th anniversary on June 2.

UNIFIL was initially set up to monitor Lebanon's border with Israel but expanded after the devastating 2006 war between Israel and Hizbullah.

The force has been the target of three other unclaimed attacks, the latest in January 2008 when two Irish officers were wounded by a roadside bomb.

In the deadliest attack, three Spanish and three Colombian peacekeepers were killed in June of 2007 when a booby-trapped car exploded as their patrol vehicle drove by.