BEIRUT -- Muslim countries should match the contribution of European nations and pledge 7,000 troops to a UN peacekeeping force for southern Lebanon, the head of the world's largest Muslim body has said. "The Muslim countries should make up to the European ones," Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, Secretary-General of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), told Reuters in an interview. "The Europeans now have pledged 7,000 so I think the OIC countries should make the same, and that will answer the need of Lebanon because, as I understand, the need is about 15,000," the Egyptian-born Turk said.
"The rules of engagement are clear. The task of UNIFIL troops was clarified by statements made by the government of Lebanon and the United Nations," he said, referring to the existing UN force in Lebanon.
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