Secretary-General's press conference with EU High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy, Javier Solana, EU President Erkki Tuomioja, Foreign Minister of Finland, and Benita Ferrero-Waldner, European Commissioner for External Relations, aft

SG: Thank you very much, Mr. President.

Let me start by saying the Conference has been a success. More than half the force pledged today, and not only troops on the ground, but we also got naval assets as well as air assets promised. And when you put it all together, Europe is providing the backbone to the force and I am very, very encouraged by the firm commitments we have received here at this meeting. I was very confident that Europe wanted to assume its responsibilities and show its solidarity with the people of Lebanon. We can now begin to put together a credible force that the Security Council authorized in [resolution] 1701.

The cessation of hostilities is holding, although the situation is very fragile. Israeli forces are withdrawing progressively from the South [Lebanon] and the Lebanese Armed Forces are moving in –and this is a historic development, which the international community has been pushing for since 1978. So I want to congratulate Prime Minister [Fouad] Siniora and his Government for this bold decision and initiative. We may have a unique opportunity to transform the cessation of hostilities into a durable cease-fire and a long term solution.

Our main concerns now relate to the political context in which the UN force will operate. The UN - Security Council and Secretariat alike - is fully seized of the need to move the political process forward, to stabilize the situation and secure a durable ceasefire.

As most of you know, last week, I sent my Special Envoy for the Implementation of Resolution 1559, Terje Roed Larsen, and my senior political adviser. Vijay Nambiar, to discuss with the Governments of Lebanon and Israel how we can move forward politically, and do so rapidly. I am now on my way to Lebanon and Israel myself and I will also visit the occupied Palestinian territory; and I will visit other countries in the region, where I will seek the constructive engagement of all the players. This is a project that requires the cooperation and support of all. If the countries in the region work with the international community to support [resolution] 1701, we will succeed.

After the trip, I will revert to the [Security] Council and give them a report on the political situation as I see it and how we move forward. I would like to emphasize that a successful implementation and the stability of the region are critically dependent on the cooperation and support of all regional players. And I will have the chance of discussing it with them individually and collectively.

We need to demonstrate our solidarity with the peoples of the region, with the Israelis and the Lebanese. The international community as a whole must assume its responsibilities and do so promptly. The Lebanese must also assume their responsibilities and find national solutions on how to move forward and implement resolution 1701.

To achieve that, it is vital that we deploy a strong, credible, maybe I should use the word “robust” –everybody uses that –strong, credible and robust advance elements of UNIFIL II. UNIFIL II is going to need all the support that it [can get] and we should deploy, I hope, within the next few days, not the next few weeks. This meeting gives me a strong base to continue to approach other countries to contribute. I am glad to say that several have already come forward with firm commitments from Malaysia, Indonesia and Bangladesh. And I am also in consultation with the Prime Minister of Turkey. So far, as I said, the total European pledge today really gives us more than half the force. Thus, Europe has lived up to its responsibility, provided the backbone to the force and we can look forward confidently with building a credible force that will help the international community achieve its goals in the region.

Finally, with regard to the leadership of the force of UNIFIL II, I have asked France to lead the UNIFIL II until end of February 2007, when the rotation will then go to Italy. Italy will then provide the next commander after February 2007.

We have also, as some of you have discovered, created a new strategic cell to help provide military guidance to UNIFIL II. This cell will be at UN Headquarters and the head of that Unit will be an Italian general.

Thank you very much.

Q: Can I ask the presidency and also the UN Secretary-General, will the peacekeeping force be patrolling the Syrian border to prevent arms supplies to Hezbollah, will it at any stage play a role in disarming Hezbollah and will it really be on the ground in days rather than weeks?

SG: Let me say that the resolution does not require deployment of UN troops to the border. It indicates that, if the Lebanese government were to ask for it, we should assist. The Lebanese Government has not made any such request.

As to your question on disarmament, let me be clear that resolution 1559 asks for the disarmament of all militia, national and non-national, and this was reaffirmed in resolution 1701. The understanding was that it would be the Lebanese who would disarm. I think it is also generally accepted that the disarmament of Hezbollah cannot be done by force. It has to be a political agreement between the Lebanese; there has to be a Lebanese consensus and an agreement among them to disarm. In fact, before the war, this issue was part of a national dialogue going on in Lebanon; I hope they will return to it in earnest. Obviously, if at some stage they need advice or some help from the international community and they were to approach us, we would consider it, but the troops are not going in there to disarm. Let us be clear on that. The other question, perhaps I will defer that to you, that part of the question.

(later, elaborating on a question addressed to the EU Presidency)

We approach this in three phases. The first one is to get in about 3,000-4,000 men very quickly in the next few days or a week, and then we will have a second and a third phase to complete our deployment.

Q: Sir, you have said since the first beginning of the crisis in Lebanon, that Syria and Iran have to be involved in solution of the crisis. Did you involve them, and if yes, in what way? Thank you.

SG: Yes, I have maintained contacts, I have been speaking to President [Mahmoud] Ahmadinejad [of Iran] and [President Bashar al-]Assad of Syria, and in this visit to the region, I will visit both countries to discuss this matter with them.

(Q: One questioner asked the EU Presidency about some contributing countries to UNIFIL II that do not recognise Israel.)

SG: As to the second part of your question, this is an international effort and a UN mission, and when we seek peacekeepers, we try to get governments with well trained troops, preferably troops who have had peacekeeping experience. The countries you listed -- Indonesia, Bangladesh, Malaysia -- have good peacekeeping experience. Obviously we are sensitive to the concern, raised by Israel, but we have to understand that in today's world, where there is lots of competition for troops, when you look at the deployments around the world, from over 150,000 in Iraq to thousands in Afghanistan, the UN itself has 80,000-90,000 deployed and we are looking for 15,000 –13,000 more to go to southern Lebanon. We are looking at a new operation in East-Timor, Timor Leste?You need to work and engage with these governments to get the troops. You don't have a pool of armed soldiers, troops that you can choose and pick, and these countries do have good experience.

As I also indicated, I am in touch also with Turkey and I hope they would also make a decision to join. What has to be done is to have an international force that is confident, that is capable and robust and deployed in a manner that our presence does not introduce any tensions among the protagonists. You can deploy forces in a way that they do not create tensions between themselves and the Israelis or do it in a way that there will be no contact between some of the forces that you refer to and the Israelis, but they are competent and able peacekeepers and that is just what we need. So we will take the best peacekeepers where we can find them, and you must have noticed what a struggle it has been to put together the force.

Q: Secretary-General, the French president, Jacques Chirac, has described the figure of 15,000 peacekeepers as excessive. Have you perhaps overestimated the number you need and is that why it is such a travail to get together the people to support the operation in Lebanon?

SG: I am not sure that the lack of offers had anything to do with the size of the force that we were seeking. The figure of 15,000 which was agreed to by the Council comes from the working figure. As I have indicated, we are going to deploy in three phases. In the meantime since the decision, just before the decision the Lebanese also came up with 15,000 [troops] and from what I gather, some of them will be deployed along the Lebanese border. But what I can assure you is that we want a force that is effective and has what is required to get the job done, no more and no less. Thank you.