BRUSSELS, Aug 25: European nations pledged 7,000 troops on Friday to form the core of a beefed-up peacekeeping mission in Lebanon capable of enforcing the fragile truce between Israel and Hezbollah.

The pledges account for more than half the extra soldiers needed to bring the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) to a maximum mandated strength of 15,000, from its current count of 2,000.

United Nations chief Kofi Annan, speaking after a meeting with foreign ministers of the 25 European Union states, hailed the conference ‘a success’.

“We may have a unique opportunity to transform the cessation of hostilities into a durable ceasefire,” he added in Brussels.

The pledges came after France, which currently commands UNIFIL, committed itself on Thursday to a total deployment of 2,000 soldiers.

But French President Jacques Chirac, who was speaking separately on Friday in Paris, said a level of 15,000 troop was ‘excessive’ and it made ‘no sense’ to have such a large contingent alongside the Lebanese army in the region.

In Brussels though, Finnish Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency, said the total European contribution would be ‘something between 5,600 and 6,900’ soldiers, as well as air and naval assets.

French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy put the EU deployment at ‘6,500 to 7,000 soldiers on the ground, which means that the spinal column of the reinforced UNIFIL will be European’.

The force is crucial to shoring up UN Resolution 1701, which on Aug 14 brought an end to the 34-day brutal conflict in Lebanon.

Mr Annan said Bangladesh, Malaysia and Indonesia had offered to participate in UNIFIL — though Israel has opposed contributions from those Muslim countries because of an absence of diplomatic relations.

The UN chief also proposed that France see out its current term as commander of the force, which expires at the end of January, after which Italy would take over.

Italy is expected to supply 3,000 soldiers, which would make it the biggest contributor to the force.

France, though, played a key role diplomatically in revamping the force, having co-authored the UN resolution with the United States. It also enjoys close relations with Lebanon, a former protectorate.

Mr Douste-Blazy said France had ‘absolutely’ no problem with the change of command.

Mr Chirac’s announcement that he was sending 1,600 more troops to Lebanon came after international criticism over his initial, emergency deployment of just 200 soldiers to join the 200 already in UNIFIL.

A vanguard of 170 French reinforcements arrived in Lebanon on Friday, making France the only country so far to have actually sent troops.

Mr Chirac said he agreed to send the extra two battalions after winning a robust mandate for UNIFIL and guarantees the force would be able to cope if hostilities flare up again.

“I wonder how it would have been judged if I had raced off like a mad dog without thinking or securing minimum guarantees,” he said in Paris.—AFP