United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan told reporters Friday that he was calling for a meeting at the U.N. next week to assess who and what countries were willing to contribute to a militarized stabilization force for Lebanon. “We will be bringing together a group of countries that may be potential troop contributors,” said Annan about the meeting next Monday. “Obviously it will be preliminary discussions, because we do not have the mandate of the Security Council yet. And it is the mandate, and what the troops are being asked to do, that would eventually help governments make up their minds whether they participate or do not participate,” he said. Annan discussed the role that regional players must take in resolving the Lebanese conflict, including involving Syria and Lebanon. Annan said that he had had a lengthy discussion with the Security Council on the idea of proposing a cessation of hostilities that would hopefully lead to a ceasefire. “You will need that cessation of hostilities to put in the force anyway,” said Annan. “And of course, a ceasefire obviously will have to be negotiated, and that may take a while,” he said. Annan indicated that there had been some talk of holding a high-level ministerial meeting in the Security Council on Lebanon next week, but no time or date had been fixed yet.
