Qatar pledges troops for Lebanon

Qatar has taken a lead in Arab diplomacy on the Lebanon conflict

Qatar has become the first Arab state to commit troops to a UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon by offering 200 to 300 military personnel.

Qatar's foreign minister said the small force showed Arab support for a UN truce resolution last month that ended five weeks of fighting in Lebanon.

Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem al-Thani did not say when it would be deployed.

Troops will join a UN force tasked with keeping the peace between Israel and Hezbollah guerrillas in south Lebanon.

The move was announced after talks in Doha with UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, who is on a tour of the Middle East.

"We have decided that Qatar will participate in Unifil (UN Interim Force in Lebanon) by sending 200 to 300 military personnel and we believe Unifil must have specific duties on the ground," Sheikh Hamad told reporters.

The UN is installing 15,000 peacekeepers in southern Lebanon as part of UN Security Council Resolution 1701.

Air link

Qatar is alone in the conservative, petroleum-rich Gulf region in maintaining low-level ties with Israel and it also hosts a major US military base.

The offer of troops came hours before Qatar resumed direct flights to Lebanon, despite an Israel blockade on the country.

An Airbus 320 from Qatar landed at Rafik Hariri International Airport at 1220 GMT.

Israel has maintained an air and sea embargo since the 14 August ceasefire ended its 34-day conflict with Hezbollah fighters.

It has allowed only the Lebanese and Jordanian national carriers to fly to Beirut on condition they pass through Amman, Jordan, for security checks.

An Israeli official quoted by Reuters news agency said the government would not take any action to prevent Qatari planes landing in Beirut.

Qatar Airways did not comment on whether it had sought Israeli clearance for the flight, which was hailed by Lebanese media as the first crack in Israel's blockade.

Qatar's Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani became the only head of state to visit Lebanon since the conflict when he travelled to Beirut on 21 August.

More than 1,100 Lebanese and about 160 Israelis died in the conflict.