Why did Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert ask Italy to head peacekeeping forces in Lebanon, and not France?
-Because UNIFIL forces once showed their lack of ability to restrain tension in Lebanon. Usually, who heads peacekeepers, he determines the peacekeeping policy. We want professional and skilled people, who have the experience of peacekeeping work, to head the forces. Italian army is a strong one. It is a NATO army. If it heads UN peacekeepers, their effectiveness will rise considerably. Some time ago, France intended to head UN forces. But France later refused. First, it promised to send a large number of peacekeepers, but then it sent only 200 people. -Do you believe that UN peacekeepers and Lebanese army will be able to keep Hezbollah from new attacks on Israel? -We wouldnt have agreed to the armistice otherwise. It is quite possible. This huge army of 15,000 UN peacekeepers plus several thousand of Lebanese soldiers is quite enough to keep the situation under control. The territory is not that large. -Will the peacekeepers have the right to interfere in the conflict, or will they on
