Tuesday, August 22 2006 18:36 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Rome: Italy called for an urgent meeting of EU foreign ministers on Lebanon day as it declared its readiness to lead the UN peacekeeping force to the country, but said a precise mandate was needed.

"We need more clarity, a precise mandate, precise contents and a very clear definition of the alliances," Prime Minister Romano Prodi was quoted by Italian media as saying.

Europe would probably be sending up to 9,000 soldiers to strengthen the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), Italian Foreign Minister Massimo D'Alema said while calling for an urgent meeting of EU foreign ministers to discuss the "modalities and mandate" of the European mission in the Middle East.

It was expected that EU's foreign ministers could meet as early as Friday. The UN was scheduled to discuss the expansion of UNIFIL on Wednesday, and EU diplomats planned to discuss the issue the same day in Brussels.

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan was expected to decide who would lead the troops at the weekend, Prodi said.

"Then we will see in the framework of the joint global strategy what special role Italy can take on," he said.

D'Alema said that Italy would be sending between 2,000 and 3,000 troops as part of the EU mission, or "a third of the total number of European soldiers," D'Alema was quoted as saying in La Repubblica newspaper. Fears that Italy could be left alone in its contribution to the forces in southern Lebanon were unfounded, the minister added.

Former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, who was in complete agreement with Italian participation in the mission, said however that a contingent of 1,200 Italian soldiers would be enough.

The UN Security Council adopted on August 11 Resolution 1701 that ended hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah militants in Lebanon. It calls for raising 15,000 troops to monitor the ceasefire along with 15,000 Lebanese troops. UNIFIL now has 2,000 troops.