Rome/Brussels, Aug. 22, SPA -- European Union foreign ministers are togather Friday in Brussels for a special talks session to discuss theparticipation of EU troops in the international force being assembledfor Lebanon, it was announced Tuesday. UN Secretary General Kofi Annan is also expected to attend themeeting, officials from the current Finnish EU presidency said according to dpa. Italy had earlier called for an urgent meeting of EU foreignministers as it declared its readiness to lead the United Nationspeacekeeping force to the country, but said "a precise mandate" wasneeded from the international organization. "We need more clarity, a precise mandate, precise contents and avery clear definition of the alliances," Prime Minister Romano Prodiwas quoted by Italian media as saying. Europe would probably be sending up to 9,000 soldiers tostrengthen the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL),Italian Foreign Minister Massimo D'Alema said. The UN was scheduled to discuss the expansion of UNIFIL onWednesday, with EU diplomats planning to discuss the issue the sameday in Brussels. Annan was expected to decide who would lead the troops at theweekend, Prodi said. "Then we will see in the framework of the jointglobal strategy what special role Italy can take on," he said. D'Alema said that Italy would be sending between 2,000 and 3,000troops as part of the EU mission, or "a third of the total number ofEuropean soldiers," D'Alema was quoted as saying in La Repubblicanewspaper. Fears that Italy could be left alone in its contribution to theforces in southern Lebanon were unfounded, the minister added.--SPA www.spa.gov.sa/384386