Annan Sees Mediation for Israel and Hezbollah - New York Times

Annan Sees Mediation for Israel and Hezbollah - New York Times: "Annan Sees Mediation for Israel and Hezbollah
By WARREN HOGE

JIDDA, Saudi Arabia, Sept. 3 — Secretary General Kofi Annan said today that the United Nations would mediate talks on the release of Israeli and Hezbollah prisoners.

Mr. Annan disclosed the news in an interview on his flight here from Doha, where the Qatari government announced it would contribute 200 to 300 troops to the expanded United Nations force set up to keep the peace between Israel and Hezbollah guerrillas in south Lebanon.

Mr. Annan also said he had received a phone call on Sunday from Syria’s foreign minister, Walid al-Moellem, saying his country would send a battalion of troops to guard the border with Lebanon. In Damascus last week, Mr. Annan had asked President Basher al-Assad of Syria to help enforce the arms embargo called for in the Security Council resolution that ended the fighting between Hezbollah and Israel.

On the possible prisoner release, Mr. Annan said that he had already chosen his representative to the negotiation, that Israel had chosen its negotiator, and that what he called “Lebanon-Hezbollah” was in the process of selecting someone."