Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos said on Tuesday that the country would not back extra international forces being sent to Lebanon unless they are supported by the United Nations Security Council.

Earlier on Tuesday, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan called for a stronger international force in Lebanon, to halt the fighting between Israel and Lebanese guerrillas Hezbollah.

The Israeli army has killed 195 civilians and 12 soldiers in Lebanon in heavy bombings of Lebanon to avenge Hezbollah's shelling of its border regions and capturing of its two soldiers last Wednesday. Hezbollah has killed 24 Israelis, 12 of them civilians, by firing rockets across the border.

Moratinos did not reject the idea of sending Spanish troops to Lebanon as part of a possible solution to halt the conflict, but said it would have to be temporary, and only be there to give all sides security.

The Spanish minister said that the international community would have to negotiate with all sides and assume responsibility.

He added that he supported European Union foreign ministers' call for Israel and Hezbollah to return to diplomacy to settle their conflict.

The United Nations currently has 1,991 troops and 50 military observers in Lebanon, who are charged with monitoring the Blue Line separating Israel and Lebanon and have long been viewed as ineffectual by all sides in the Middle East. Israel has opposed an expansion of this force.

Source: Xinhua