BRUSSELS, July 24: Nato reacted cautiously on Monday to US and Israeli calls for it to lead a peacekeeping force in Lebanon, while diplomats said the military alliance is already hugely stretched, notably in Afghanistan.

A Nato spokesman made little official comment, but sources pointed out that the 26-nation alliance has active missions in the Balkans, Africa and Iraq as well as Afghanistan, which is facing a growing surge of violence.

“There are huge challenges involved for any kind of intervention force,” said one Nato source in Brussels.

The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation in theory has the command structure, planning capability and political coordination capability to run a multi-national operation, said the source.

But he added: “What (Nato) allies are willing to put at its disposal is a different question.”

The comments came after the United States and Israel said on Sunday that they were ready to back an international force led by Nato in south Lebanon to ease tensions.

“Israel supports the possibility of deploying a multi-national force with a strong mandate,” possibly sponsored by Nato, Israeli Defence Minster Amir Peretz was quoted as saying in Jerusalem.

No US troops are likely to be in the force, which according to a US media report could be between 10,000 and 20,000-strong and led by a contingent from France or Turkey.

In Brussels, Nato’s official spokesman James Appathurai would not be drawn into elaborate comment.

“There has been no request made to Nato to play any role,” he told AFP.

“The international community has not defined whether any force might be deployed (or) what role that force might play...Nato has not had any political discussion on this subject, nor is any scheduled,” he said.

But another source stressed the fact that the United States — long Nato’s dominant force — is already fighting two wars, in Iraq and Afghanistan, as is Britain which packs Europe’s biggest military punch along with France.

The Washington Post has reported that France and Turkey could provide a significant number of troops, but Nato sources said that drumming up enough fire power would be a ‘huge challenge’.

Experts agreed that finding troops would be a major problem.—AFP