Annan to mediate on Hizbollah-held Israelis: Qatar first Arab state to promise peacekeepers

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said on Monday he would appoint a secret negotiator to mediate between Israel and Hizbollah for the release of two Israeli soldiers seized in July.
"The two sides have accepted the effort of the secretary-general to help solve this problem," Annan told a news conference in Saudi Arabia. "I will appoint a person to work secretly with the two sides ... I will not announce his name today or tomorrow," he said through an Arabic interpreter.
The release of the soldiers, whose capture by Hizbollah in a cross-border raid on July 12 sparked a 34-day war, is at the centre of a UN resolution for a permanent cease-fire on the Lebanon-Israel border.
Hizbollah wants to exchange the soldiers for Lebanese prisoners held in Israeli jails. Hizbollah and the Jewish state have been involved in prisoner exchanges in the past.
There was no immediate reaction on the report from Israel or Hizbollah. The Lebanese government agreed to file a complaint to the UN Security Council over Israel's nearly eight-week-old air and sea blockade despite the truce. Israel says it has kept its embargo to prevent Hizbollah from rearming.
Qatar Airways resumed its direct service to Beirut, despite Israel's demand that all such flights pass through Amman, Jordan for security reasons. The first Qatar Airways plane landed in Beirut on Monday with 142 passengers on board.
Shipping industry newspaper Lloyd's List will report on Tuesday that Israel was allowing certain ships, mainly oil tankers carrying petroleum product and ships ferrying aid, to enter Lebanese ports.
"Whoever submits a request and has it approved can enter," an Israeli army spokeswoman said. She added that ships and planes that met certain criteria would be allowed to reach lebanon despite the naval and aerial blockades, but refused to elaborate on what the conditions were.
In another sign of progress, the commander of UN peacekeepers said a joint meeting with Lebanese and Israeli officers on Monday had brought closer a full Israeli troop withdrawal from south Lebanon in line with Resolution 1701. The United Nations has said the Israeli pullout would be completed once the number of peacekeepers, which now stands at 3,100, reaches 5,000.
Major-General Alain Pellegrini met representatives of the Lebanese and Israeli armies at his UNIFIL headquarters in the southern Lebanese port of Naqoura to co-ordinate the process of the Israeli pullout and Lebanese deployment, in conjunction with the peacekeepers, a UN statement said.
"The meeting was productive and I think we are on the right track in securing the full withdrawal of IDF (Israeli forces) from Lebanon and finally ensuring that the Lebanese army will take control of the whole border area in the south," he said.
Qatar on Monday became the first Arab country to commit troops to the expanded UN force. The Gulf state, which maintains low-level ties with Israel, said it would contribute 200 to 300 troops to the UN force and sent a civilian airliner to Beirut despite the Israeli blockade.
The planned deployment, which Israel said it had no problem with, was announced by Foreign Minister Sheikh Hamad al-Thani during a visit to Doha by Annan. Some 200 French troops left Toulon for Lebanon on Monday on board the navy ship Foudre. France has committed 2,000 troops.
Finland said it would send up to 250 soldiers, mostly engineers by November and Germany reiterated its pledge to send a naval force to patrol Lebanon's coast but was still waiting for an official request from Beirut.
Around 900 Italian troops, backed by about 150 vehicles, landed in south Lebanon at the weekend. The troops are expected to deploy in areas east and south of the port city of Tyre. Another 120 Italian troops are due to arrive on September 10.
Italy has pledged 3,000 troops, the largest single contribution, to a UN plan to increase the number of peacekeepers in Lebanon to 15,000 to help enforce the truce. The Lebanese army is also deploying 15,000 troops in the area.