Special report: Israel-Lebanon conflicts

    UNITED NATIONS, July 28 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Friday announced plans for a meeting of potential troop contributors to a United Nations stabilization force in southern Lebanon.

    Speaking to reporters at UN Headquarters in New York, Annan said the meeting, due to be held on Monday, would be preliminary because there is no Security Council mandate yet for such a force and member states will not commit troops until they know the scope of that mandate.

    But the secretary-general said it was time for the international community "to really be action-oriented" to solve the crisis in the Middle East, where hundreds of Lebanese and Israeli civilians have been killed in the past two weeks, and hundreds of thousands of Lebanese have been displaced from their homes.

    "We've gone beyond statements and exhortations," he said. "We're looking for concrete, practical steps to take action."

    France is leading an international call for a UN Security Council resolution demanding an end to the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon and the forming of a stabilization force to be deployed to the region.

    The convening of the meeting will provide an opportunity for the council, before it makes any decision, to make sure if any countries are willing to contribute troops, diplomats said.

    Countries expected to attend the meeting will likely include contributors to the current 2,000-member UN force in southern Lebanon, known as UNIFIL, and the 25 members of the European Union which has publicly offered to help.

    Annan, who attended a Security Council briefing Friday by Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Jan Egeland on the situation in Lebanon, northern Israel and the Gaza Strip, said council members shared his concern that urgent steps are required.

    The UN chief said that any measures devised by the international community must, above all, emphasize Lebanese sovereignty so that the country's people can "take charge of their territory and their destiny."

    The Lebanese "need to find a way of disarming Hezbollah and creating a situation where there will be one authority and one gun, and extend the authority through the territory. And this is where the international community needs to work with them and give them the support, the space, by deploying the stabilization force," he said.

    But he added that other countries in the region, such as Syria, should be brought into discussions about tackling the crisis.

    "If we're going to be able to resolve this issue, not only do we need to work with the government of Lebanon, but we should encourage those who have influence to bring that influence to bear... That should not diminish from the authority of the Lebanese government," he added. Enditem