The total contribution of European Union countries to a UN peace force in Lebanon could reach 9,000, the Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern told reporters after an emergency EU meeting in Brussels.
"Now that we have got the guarantees from the bigger countries on numbers, others were happy to come on board and it looks like once the numbers are fleshed out we will have in the region of 8,000 to 9,000 troops," Mr Ahern told reporters.
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who attended the meeting, told a news briefing that "more than half the force has been pledged today", referring to a UN goal of gathering a total contingent of 15,000.
