Israel: Not all nations welcome in U.N. force

Malaysia and Indonesia have each offered to send 1,000 troops to Lebanon. Both countries, with Muslim majority populations, have no diplomatic ties with Israel and strongly support the Palestinian cause.

"It would be very difficult if not inconceivable for Israel to accept troops from countries who do not recognise Israel, who have no diplomatic relations with Israel," Israel's U.N. Ambassador Dan Gillerman told the BBC.

Gillerman said Israel would be "very happy" to accept troops from Muslim countries it has friendly relations with.

"But to expect countries who don't even recognise Israel to guard Israel's safety I think would be a bit naive," he said.

Malaysia's Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar dismissed Gillerman's remarks, saying, "we're going to be on Lebanese territory ... we're not going to be on Israeli territory."

A senior Israeli official told Reuters on Wednesday that Israel had informed the U.N. in no uncertain terms it would not accept any countries in the force that have no ties with Israel.

But another Israeli official said at the time that this position was not final.

Objections from Israel could complicate efforts by the United Nations to quickly assemble a force for southern Lebanon to enforce a ceasefire between Hizbollah and Israel that took effect on Monday after more than a month of fighting.

A U.N. Security Council resolution calls for deploying up to 15,000 troops, including a 2,000-strong U.N. force in Lebanon since 1978. But a senior U.N. official said he doubted enough countries would come forward to reach that goal any time soon.

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