LEBANON LEADERS ACCEPT UN FORCE
April 27 2000 MIDDLE EAST

FROM ROSS DUNN IN JERUSALEM

THE Lebanese Government said for the first time yesterday that it would accept international peacekeepers in the south of the country, to fill a power vacuum after the planned Israeli troop withdrawal from the area.

Previously Beirut had expressed fears that an Israeli withdrawal would lead to a new conflict along the border, in the absence of a comprehensive peace settlement with Lebanon and Syria. But in a statement Salim Hoss, the Lebanese Prime Minister, said that the withdrawal would end two decades of Israeli occupation and represent a radical turning point for his country.

"The Israeli withdrawal will not lead to a vacuum that threatens security and stability as pessimists like to imagine," he said. "We should not forget that the situation in the areas to be vacated by Israel will be protected by the international force, under UN resolutions that call on Israel to withdraw to the international border and provide for peacekeepers' deployment."

The UN is expected to strengthen its existing 4,500-member force stationed in Lebanon since 1978.

Mr Hoss's statement was the first acknowledgement by Lebanon that it would agree to UN forces moving into the area, since Israel formally notified the UN of its withdrawal plans last week.

The implementation of the UN resolutions requires the consent of both Israel and Lebanon.

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