KOFI ANNAN, the UN Secretary-General, will be asked today to decide whether France or Italy will command the expanded United Nations peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon.

The conflict arose after President Chirac announced the dispatch of two additional battalions, bringing the total number of French troops in the UN mission to 2,000.

M Chirac’s U-turn followed international criticism over an initial French offer to send only 200 soldiers.

But it appeared to place him at loggerheads with Romano Prodi, the Italian Prime Minister, who has said that he would provide 3,000 soldiers to join the expanded UN mission in southern Lebanon.

Signor Prodi offered to take the lead in the force and won backing from other Western capitals. Yesterday he said that President Bush had taken a “positive” view of Italy’s offer to lead the force.

But Italy’s stance has ruffled feathers in France, the former colonial power that sees itself as the natural leader of the international community in Lebanon.

Philippe Douste-Blazy, the French Foreign Minister, said this week that France retained command of the UN force under existing arrangements until February.

Last night M Chirac asked the UN to maintain the lead role for France, insisting that “we are historically close” to Lebanon.

Italian newspapers suggested that an unseemly diplomatic spat between Rome and Paris over control of the peacekeeping mission could be avoided by an agreement to share the command.

But neither M Chirac nor Signor Prodi made reference to such a deal — with the French head of state insisting on the need for a “simple, clear, coherent” chain of command.

Signor Prodi said last night that France and Italy would work together in Lebanon, adding that Mr Annan would settle the issue of which country would lead the force at a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels today.

Italian officials indicated that Rome would step aside in favour of Paris. M Chirac said that he had decided to expand the French contingent after seeking and winning guarantees from the UN over the structure and rules of engagement of the mission. The French military establishment has been keen to settle the question of “whom you can shoot and when” — a concern that explains the French delay in committing troops.

M Chirac also said that he had convinced other European nations to commit troops to what many see as a perilous mission to enforce a shaky ceasefire. Spain, Finland, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Hungary and Belgium are among those considering a role.

Signor Prodi implied that they — and France — had been dragging their feet. Europe’s scramble to put together a robust military operation capable of preventing a second round in the war between Israel and Hezbollah comes amid concern that a vacuum could add to instability in Lebanon.

Tzipi Livni, the Israeli Foreign Minister, urged the international community to act quickly. “The extremists who want to inflame the region are watching us, and this will test the strength and determination of the international community,” she said after a meeting with Massimo D’Alema, the Italian Foreign Minister.

EU foreign ministers are expected to tell Mr Annan today that they can provide several thousand troops to bolster the existing peacekeeping force, widely seen as toothless, in southern Lebanon. But the total may fall short of the 15,000 demanded by the UN. A French official put the figure at 8,000 to 9,000.

M Chirac said last night that France will send 1,600 troops to Lebanon to join the 400 already there. “France is ready, if the UN wishes, to continue to assume the command of the force,” he added.

His words came after he was accused of backtracking from a suggestion that France would form the backbone of the mission. M Chirac emphasised in his intervention last night that France had taken a leading role in the ceasefire resolution. He said that he had gone further after winning “necessary clarifications” from the UN.

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