Israel wants Muslim troops in Lebanon

Israeli officials have already spoken to Turkey.
JERUSALEM (AP) -- The Israeli government said Saturday it is asking friendly Muslim countries to contribute troops to the U.N. force that is to help police the cease-fire in southern Lebanon between Israel and Hezbollah.
The U.N. wants Muslim troops included to lend credibility in the region to what so far is a mostly European force, and the predominantly Islamic nations of Indonesia, Bangladesh and Malaysia have offered to participate.
But none of those recognize Israel, which says it would be reluctant to share intelligence with a force that included Muslim nations it doesn't have relations with. While Israel does not have any veto, its opposition to a country could influence which troops are included.
Possibilities
Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev said Israel had spoken to the governments of several Muslim nations with which it has diplomatic relations, but primarily to Turkey. Turkey, which would be acceptable to all parties, has not decided whether to join the mission.
"If Turkey decides to send a contingent, we would welcome that," Regev said.
He did not specify the other nations contacted by Israel, but Jordan and Egypt are among the Muslim countries that Israel has relations with.
The difficulties facing the nascent force were already apparent, with a top Hezbollah official saying in a defiant interview published Saturday that the Shiite Muslim guerrilla group would keep its weapons despite international pressure to disarm.
Sheik Naim Kassem, the group's deputy leader, also told the Lebanese newspaper An-Nahar that Hezbollah's "resistance" to Israel would continue. "Justifications for ending it do not exist," he said.
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