The UN Security Council resolution over Lebanon is weaker than Belgium would have wanted, raising doubts that Belgian troops will participate in the peacekeeping mission, said De Standaard newspaper on Wednesday.

Resolution 1701 of the UN Security Council does not give the peacekeeping mission for Lebanon a mandate to restore peace because it does not refer back to Chapter VII of the UN charter.

Conscious of the 10 Belgian peacekeepers killed in Rwanda, Belgium is demanding a "clear UN mandate" as precondition of its participation in the Lebanon peacekeeping mission, the newspaper said.

Belgian Foreign Minister Karel De Gucht said on Tuesday he regretted the mandate does not refer to Chapter VII.

Chapter VII of the UN Charter provides for sanctions or even military action against non-compliance with UN resolutions.

Resolution 1701 states that Israel should withdraw from Lebanon and that Hezbollah be disarmed in a 20 km zone along the border.

But Hezbollah is refusing to be disarmed and the Lebanese government can do little about it.

Under Resolution 1701, the current UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon, Unifil, will be increased from 2,000 to 15,000 troops. But commander General Alain Pellegrini has said it could be a year before all the troops are in place.

De Gucht, however, said it was unacceptable, stressing that the peacekeeping force must be in place within two months.

"The coming months are critical," he said on Tuesday.

The cease-fire that took effect on Monday morning has only been broken by isolated incidents in the past two days.

Source: Xinhua