Germany was opposed to deploying NATO's reaction force as peacekeepers in south Lebanon, a government spokesman said on Wednesday.

Germany has ruled out using the NATO Response Force in south Lebanon, as Berlin sees such a force as "totally unsuited to the task," said government spokesman Thomas Steg, quoted by German news agency DPA.

Steg's remarks came as foreign ministers met in Rome to discuss how to end hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah guerrillas in south Lebanon and the possibility of deploying an international peacekeeping force there.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel sees the current situation in the Middle East as "very serious," Steg said after a cabinet meeting, adding that Germany will try its best to contribute to a ceasefire in the region.

However, Steg said Merkel has made clear at Wednesday's cabinet meeting that "this is not the moment to speculate prematurely about what contribution Germany could make."

It's unnecessary to discuss what kind of peacekeeping force is needed and the makeup of the force before a UN mandate is in place, he said. "As far as Lebanon is concerned, we are still far away from a UN mandate."

Earlier Wednesday, French President Jacques Chirac also said he did not favor a role for NATO in a peacekeeping force in the Middle East.

In an interview with Le Monde newspaper, Chirac dismissed the idea of using NATO forces as international peacekeepers in the Middle East, but said he favored sending a multinational force to both the Israel-Lebanon and Syria-Lebanon borders.

For France, NATO "has no place in setting up such a force," he said, adding that NATO was perceived, "whether we like it or not, " as the "armed wing of the West in the region."

As Germany and France played down the prospects of NATO spearheading the peace force for south Lebanon, foreign ministers ended their Wednesday meeting in Rome without clear agreement on how to end the two-week-long conflict between Israel and Hezbollah. Diplomats agreed at the talks in Rome that an international force under a UN mandate was needed to bring peace to the nation, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told a news conference.

In Brussels, NATO chief Jaap de Hoop Scheffer declined to rule out NATO's role in an international peacekeeping force, but said talk of a role was premature until international players had worked out key details for the force, notably its mandate and mission.

"This is not the moment," de Hoop Scheffer said. "I see many suggestions, each with a question mark ... I do not include anything, I do not exclude anything," he said.

The NATO Response Force, due to be fully operational with 25,000 troops in October this year, is designed to deploy into trouble spots around the world at a few days' notice. So far, it has been used in humanintarian missions in Afghanistan.

U.S. ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton said earlier this week that his country supported NATO leading a security force in Lebanon, but said that Washington had not yet considered getting any U.S. troops involved.

Britain, a big contributor to NATO operations, has said its forces are too stretched in missions such as Iraq and Afghanistan. Others such as the Netherlands are also unwilling to contribute troops.

Fighting between Israel and Hezbollah erupted on July 12 after the guerrilla group captured two Israeli soldiers in a cross-border clash. Since then, Israel has launched sustained attacks in southern Lebanon while Hezbollah frequently fired rockets into northern Israel. So far, hundreds of Lebanese and dozens of Israelis have been killed in the violence.

Source: Xinhua