Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni on Thursday urged the international community to act as quickly as possible to deploy a U.N. force to keep the peace in southern Lebanon. Livni told Sky TV 24 that the situation on the ground is «explosive.» «The international community must act as quickly as possible,» Livni said. «Israel from the beginning knew help was needed to help the Lebanese Army. ... Now the ball is in the European court.» The Israeli foreign minister was in Italy to meet Italian counterpart Massimo D'Alema and Premier Romano Prodi as Italy appears on the verge of taking on a major role in an expanded U.N. peacekeeping mission in southern Lebanon. Livni was meeting with D'Alema in Rome and was later to travel to the Tuscan town of Grosseto to meet with Prodi, who is vacationing at the nearby seaside resort of Castiglione della Pescaia.
