Lebanese PM wants U.N. force to remain

Lebanon's prime minister said Wednesday he has asked the United Nations to renew the mandate of international peacekeepers in his country, despite an attack last weekend that killed six members of the force.

The 13,000-member U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon was deployed nearly a year ago as part of a Security Council resolution that ended the 34-day war between Israel and the Hezbollah militant group. The force's mandate, which expires in August, called for creating an area free of weapons in southern Lebanon and bringing peace to the Lebanon-Israel border.

Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora said that he had asked U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to renew the UNIFIL mandate. He said in discussions with leaders of the 30 countries that have contributed troops to the force, he was hearing an "unequivocal commitment."

Saniora met Wednesday with French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner. A day earlier, he met with President Nicolas Sarkozy and visiting Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

Later Wednesday, he traveled to Italy _ the leading contributor to UNIFIL _ to talk to Premier Romano Prodi about his commitment to the force.

France is trying to organize a conference on the Lebanese conflict bringing together representatives of the various parties involved, which Saniora said he supported. However, he held out scant hope that such an initiative could bring peace, saying that the "first goal" of such a conference was, above all, "to break the ice."

Kouchner told reporters: "We stand by our Lebanese friends, stand by all of the Lebanese communities _ all of the communities, I'm telling you _ and if we can be useful by bringing them together, we'll furnish a venue where they can speak."

Lebanon is facing its most serious political crisis since the end of the 1975-90 civil war, with Saniora's Western-backed government and the Hezbollah-led opposition locked in a fierce power struggle. Rival Lebanese politicians have not met since a national conference ended last year without an agreement.

Saniora's European trip came after a car bombing Sunday in southern Lebanon killed six U.N. peacekeepers _ three Spaniards and three Colombians. The premier said an investigation was continuing into the attack, which he said was aimed at destabilizing Lebanon.

"The perpetrators of such a criminal incident really wanted to blackmail the UNIFIL forces and subject them to intimidation," Saniora said at a joint news conference with Prodi. "I am quite certain that the consolidated and firm position by all the nations that constitute the UNIFIL forces will really send a strong and right message to the perpetrators."

Lebanon has also been riven by fighting between Fatah Islam militants and government forces at the Nahr el-Bared Palestinian refugee camp in the northern part of the country.

Lebanon's army accused the al-Qaida-inspired militants still barricaded inside the camp of hiding among civilians and confiscating humanitarian aid sent to them. In a statement, the army urged Palestinians inside the camp to persuade the militants to turn themselves in.

"The army command renews its call on our Palestinian brothers inside the camp to take a courageous and responsible stand by confronting this terrorist organization and persuading those gunmen to surrender," it said.

Defense Minister Elias Murr said Tuesday that some 300 Islamic militants have been killed or wounded in the fighting which broke out May 20, leaving only a few dozen fighters hiding in the besieged camp. He said 84 soldiers have been killed and more than 150 soldiers wounded.

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Associated Press Writer Zeina Karam contributed to this report in Beirut, Lebanon.