Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi said yesterday that Egypt is unlikely to join an expanded United Nations peacekeeping force in Lebanon but remains a key player in the Middle East.

Speaking to reporters at his holiday home on the Tuscan coast, Prodi said he had discussed the situation at length with Foreign Minister Massimo D'Alema, who met with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on Tuesday.

"I don't believe Egypt will be sending any peacekeeping troops but it continues to be a key actor in the area," local media quoted Prodi as saying.

"Nevertheless, it has given and will continue to give a great deal of important support to Italy and the mission, which it (Egypt) is very much in favor of," he added.

Egypt had initially indicated it might play a part in the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), but Prodi said D'Alema's talks with Mubarak suggested this was no longer the case.

Prodi also said that he was unable to confirm the size of Italy's contribution to UNIFIL, as it would depend on the mission's other participants.

"Our contribution will be decided in accordance with the number of countries, the overall size and how much each nation can give," he said.

"The general nature of the Italian mission is agreed upon but, we clearly have to wait for the technical details to be worked out before we can reach any decisions on specific aspects," he added.

Italy has informally offered to contribute around 3,000 soldiers to UNIFIL, which will help the Lebanese army oversee an Israeli-Hezbollah ceasefire in the area that took effect at 0500 GMT on Monday.

Under a resolution adopted last Friday, the UN Security Council calls on Israel to withdraw troops from southern Lebanon and authorizes an increase of the existing UNIFIL to 15,000 troops to help Lebanese troops take control of south Lebanon as Israel withdraws.

Currently, there are only 2,000 UNIFIL troops in the area.