ANKARA - A planned international stability force in Lebanon must be backed by a UN resolution, and a ceasefire should be in place before troops are deployed, Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said late Wednesday.
"It would be beneficial for stability in the region but, first of all, there should be a UN Security Council resolution, an end to the conflict and clarification of the conditions," Gul said on his return from an international conference on the Middle East crisis in Rome.
Asked whether Turkey would be willing to contribute to an international force, Gul said it was too early to decide.
"Once all these aspects become clear, we will undoubtedly make a decision," he said.
The 15-nation conference in Rome failed Wednesday to agree on a truce demand after two weeks of fighting in Lebanon between Israel and the Shiite Hezbollah militia.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said after the meeting that multilateral talks would take place "over the next several days" to discuss setting up an international security force for southern Lebanon.
The US media has tipped Turkey to play a major part in such a deployment.
The Washington Post, quoting US officials, reported Sunday that the force in Lebanon could be made up of 10,000-20,000 troops and be led by a French or Turkish contingent.
Italy, Brazil, Pakistan, India and Germany have also been named as potential contributors, it said.
Last week, the United States and Israel called on the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation to lead an international contingent in south Lebanon to ease tensions there.
NATO chief Jaap de Hoop Scheffer declined Wednesday to rule out a role for the military alliance in such a force.
07/27/2006 09:21 GMT