Lebanon may use force against violations

Beirut: United Nations peacekeepers may use force to prevent repeated violations of Lebanese airspace by Israel, the commander of the UN force in Lebanon said on Thursday.

But Major General Alain Pellegrini said to do this would require the UN to change the rules of engagement for its troops.

Speaking at a news conference Pellegrini said that although reports of violations against Lebanese airspace had declined recently, they remained a problem and were "not to be accepted".

He said, "At the moment we have not other means to prevent this kind of violation beyond dialogue and diplomatic ways," he said. But if diplomacy was not enough, "maybe it could be considered other ways."

Anti-aircraft missiles held by the French contingent of the UN force are now reserved solely for self-defence, but Pellegrini said this could change if the rules of engagement were revised.

He said, "It could be. It could be. This has to be considered."

UN officials stressed that there was no plans at the moment to rewrite the rules of engagement.

The comments angered Israeli UN Ambassador Dan Gillerman, who said he could not believe Pellegrini would make such a statement.

Pellegrini also told the conference that the UN had seen no evidence of illegal arms being smuggled in from Syria.