The UN plans to expand its peacekeeping force, the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), from 2,000 to 15,000 to help the Lebanese army supervise the withdrawal of Israeli troops from southern Lebanon.

While the UN is pressing the EU to make up the backbone of the extra troops to Lebanon, many EU member states are still reluctant to firmly commit themselves until the rules of engagement are clear.

France, which has disappointed the UN by only agreeing to add a further 200 soldiers to its contingent of 200 already serving with UNIFIL in the region, on Sunday called for an extraordinary EU meeting on the issue.

"We ask that European solidarity is expressed as soon as possible about Lebanon," French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy told France Info Radio.

Helsinki responded by scheduling a meeting of the EU's Political and Security Committee for Wednesday with member states expected to discuss the details of the mandate and what governments are prepared to contribute.

"The meeting is to discuss what the countries are going to do in Lebanon," said Susanna Parkkonen, spokeswoman for Finnish Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja, on Sunday.

"Even though it's not an EU mission, it's to coordinate what different EU countries are going to do," she added.

Parkkonen said the meeting was not expected to be attended by foreign ministers, but rather by diplomats and possibly military specialists from the 25 member states.

CLEAR MANDATE SOUGHT

France had been expected to lead the force, but with no guarantees that Hezbollah will be disarmed first, Paris has stopped short of offering the 2,000 troops the UN had expected.

French Defense Minister Michele Alliot-Marie on Friday hinted that the EU was reluctant to pledge more troops because of problems it had in previous UN missions.

"You can't send in men telling them: 'Look what's going on, but you don't have the right to defend yourself or to shoot'," she told French RTL radio.

"I'd like to remind you of the experience of painful operations where UN forces did not have a sufficiently precise mission or the means to react," she said.

In Bosnia in the 1990s, soldiers from European countries could not prevent ethnic killing and at times were themselves held hostage by different factions.

"We are looking for maximum clarity. We want to avoid past mistakes. There are the bad memories of Bosnia. This time we want the answers beforehand, so we don't come to the problems when they have happened," a French foreign spokeswoman is quoted by the New York Times as saying.

French President Jacques Chirac on Saturday spoke to leaders from several countries, including Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi and Finnish Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen, stressing the need for a clearer mandate for the UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon.

French concerns were echoed by fellow EU states. Italy also said the peacekeeping mandate was not explicit enough, and had demanded the UN set clear rules of engagement.

Germany asked for a robust mandate for the force and said its troops needed concrete guidelines in case they were drawn into hostilities.

Berlin has ruled out sending ground troops or police, but it said it could dispatch its navy to help cut the weapons supply by sea to Hezbollah.

Spain, Belgium, Poland, Greece and Portugal have said they would need to study the operational plans for the force and the draft rules of engagement before making any decisions.

The Netherlands said it was not going to take part in the Lebanon mission as its military had already been stretched due to contributions to peacekeeping forces in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Iraq, Bosnia and Afghanistan.

ITALIAN LEADERSHIP EXPECTED

While the first French contingent of 50 soldiers from an engineering unit arrived in Lebanon on Saturday, Israel on Sunday called on Italy to lead the UN force.

"It is important that Italy should lead the international force and send troops to also oversee the Lebanon-Syria border crossings," said a statement from Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's office.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice also talked with her Italian counterpart on the subject in a telephone call on Sunday, encouraging Italy to seek a "strong role" in the peacekeeping force.

Prodi said Italy would consider Israel's requests. Italy has already indicated it planned to make a significant contribution to the Lebanon mission.

Italian Defense Minister Arturo Parisi said on Sunday that "it may well be that Italy will be ready to take France's place as leader of the UN force in southern Lebanon."

The UN is hoping to get 3,500 soldiers deployed by the beginning of September.

Prodi's office said on Sunday that the prime minister had separate telephone conversations with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora. Both men expressed their appreciation of Italy's readiness "to assume a role of primary importance" in the mission.

French Major General Alain Pellegrini, who heads the original 2,000-strong UN force in southern Lebanon, has warned of the fragility of the current situation.

He said the region was highly unstable, "not safe from a provocation, or a stray act, that could undermine everything."