Special to WorldTribune.com

LONDON — The European Union has been mulling a withdrawal from the
United Nations peacekeeping force in Lebanon.

Western diplomatic sources said several EU states have been negotiating
with Lebanon to bolster security for their contingents in the UN Interim
Force in Lebanon. The sources said the European contingents have been
alarmed by the reduction of Lebanese Army troops in the south.

“We are seeing a decreasing presence of the Lebanese Army, which is
being redeployed to the east and south to prevent the supply of the Sunni
revolt in Syria,” a source said.

On May 12, UNIFIL dismissed the prospect of a Western pullout from
Lebanon. UNIFIL spokesman Milouch Struger said the contingents were serving in what he termed “calm areas” of southern Lebanon.

The sources said a Lebanese Army pullout from the south would leave
UNIFIL vulnerable to attacks by the Iranian-sponsored Hizbullah and Al
Qaida-aligned militias. They cited bombings of UNIFIL convoys as well as
repeated threats against the peace-keeping force.

Israel has long complained that UNIFIL was reducing operations amid
heightened threats in the south. The sources acknowledged the reduction,
saying the UNIFIL mandate was not meant to confront Hizbullah or any other
militia.

“We are seeing Hizbullah take over positions abandoned several
years ago,” the source said. “Nobody is even trying to stop them anymore.”

Another concern by UNIFIL, with some 12,000 troops, is that Al
Qaida-aligned militias would abduct the peace-keepers. They cited repeated
kidnappings by Islamists rebels of members of the UN Disengagement Observers
Force along the Syrian portion of the Golan Heights.

The sources said EU states such as France and Italy sought guarantees
from the Beirut government that the Lebanese Army would remain a significant
force in the south. They said without such guarantees, Western states could
order a pullout by 2014.

“This is a critical time for UNIFIL,” another source said. “There has
been a serious and sizeable commitment to the force, but it will not
continue at any price.”

  Al Qaida-aligned militias, EU peacekeepers alarmed by redeployment of Lebanese troops toward Syria, Milouch Struger, UN Interim Force in Lebanon