PARIS, Aug 20: France called on Sunday for a European Union meeting next week to co-ordinate what member countries plan to do about a UN force for Lebanon.

“We ask that European solidarity is expressed as soon as possible about Lebanon,” Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy told France Info radio, adding that he had asked EU president Finland to call a meeting in Brussels early next week.

France wanted “to know what our different European partners count on doing as quickly as possible about Lebanon”, he said.

France has so far pledged to send only 200 extra troops to Lebanon, disappointing Washington and the United Nations, which had hoped it would form the backbone of an expanded UN force.

On Saturday, President Jacques Chirac spoke to leaders from several countries, including Italy’s Romano Prodi and Finnish Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen, to stress the need for a clearer mandate for the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).

A Finnish official said France was asking for a meeting of the EU’s Political and Security Committee on Wednesday.

“The meeting is to discuss what the countries are going to do in Lebanon. Even though it is not an EU mission, it is to coordinate what different EU countries are going to do,” said Susanna Parkkonen, spokeswoman for Finnish Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja.

She said those attending would be diplomats, and possibly military specialists, from the 25 member states. No foreign ministers were expected to attend.

The expanded UN peacekeeping force is meant to help the Lebanese army supervise the pullout of Israeli troops from southern Lebanon.

Chirac told leaders to whom he spoke that the composition of the UN force needed to be balanced and to reflect the commitment of the whole international community, in particular, of European countries, his office said on Saturday.

Asked about other EU states’ contributions to an enlarged UN force, Douste-Blazy said he believed there would be two phases, the first an urgent one, of which the decision to send 200 extra French troops to Lebanon was part.

About 50 French peacekeepers arrived in south Lebanon on Saturday and 150 more left France for Lebanon on Sunday.

The second phase would involve sending in the final number but that required further clarifications, Douste-Blazy said.

“For that (second phase)...we want clarifications from the United Nations on the mission of UNIFIL, on the chain of command, how it will be organised, how this force should report on its actions and to whom,” he said.

Germany pressed at the weekend for a clear and robust mandate for the force and said its troops needed concrete guidelines in case they were drawn into hostilities.

Berlin has ruled out sending ground troops or police but has said it is ready to send its navy to help prevent weapons shipments from reaching Hezbollah fighters via the coast.

“It must be clear what happens if soldiers are drawn into fighting. These rules still need to be worked out,” Chancellor Angela Merkel told the weekly newspaper Welt am Sonntag.—Reuters