French President Jacques Chirac said Wednesday that an ceasefire between Israel and Lebanese militia Hezbollah was the precondition for sending an international force to the war-torn region.

In an interview with French newspaper Le Monde in its Thursday edition, Chirac said the sending of the force was conditioned on "a political agreement that assumes a ceasefire.

He also said the NATO should not be involved in the international force.

The mission of the international force "would be to control the ceasefire and assure the respect of the borders, both the Israeli-Lebanese border and Syrian-Lebanese border of course," Chirac said

The agreement "must be negotiated partly by the Lebanese government and Hezbollah and partly between the international community, the Lebanese government and Israel," Chirac said.

Chirac acknowledged that there were not so many countries that are ready to assume a role, and he didn't rule out France's participation.

"France has always assumed its responsibilities in Lebanon. It will be determined according to some conditions. We hope to have a ceasefire, a political engagement and an international force charged of the implementation, in some strictly precise conditions," he said.

Source: Xinhua