MADRID, Aug. 20 (Xinhua) -- The leaders of Spain, Germany and Italy spoke by phone on Sunday to discuss sending peacekeeping troops to Lebanon, under the plan proposed by UN Secretary-GeneralKofi Annan on Saturday.

    Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero spoke first to German Chancellor Angela Merkel and then with Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi, stating Spain's position that there must first be an effective cease-fire, and then operating guarantees that complement the United Nations rules, local media reported.

    Zapatero's phone talks with his German and Italian counterparts came one day after Annan and French President Jacques Chirac made a joint call to discuss deploying more troops to the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) to reinforce the cease-fire that ended Israel's attacks on Lebanon's Hezbollah guerillas. Enditem