French Defence Minister Michele Alliot-Marie warned here Friday that Israeli air violations in Lebanon were 'extremely dangerous' and must end in the interest of all parties.
French President Jacques Chirac, speaking from Finland where he was attending a European Union summit, also urged Israel to stop violating Lebanon's air space.
Alliot-Marie spoke to reporters after holding talks with UN chief Kofi Annan and Jean-Marie Guehenno, the French head of the UN peacekeeping operations, that focused on the Israeli intrusions into Lebanese air space.
"These violations are extremely dangerous because they may be felt as hostile by forces of the coalition that could be brought to retaliate in case of self-defence and it would be a very serious incident," the French minister said.
She was reacting to a suggestion made here Thursday by the commander of UN troops in Lebanon, French General Alain Pellegrini, that the rules of engagement for his forces might have to be changed to allow the use of force to stop the Israeli air violations.
"If the diplomatic means should not be enough, maybe it could be considered other ways," Pellegrini added, referring to the possible use of anti-aircraft missiles by French forces in Lebanon.
But he noted that such a move would require "new rules of engagement drafted and decided here (at UN headquarters)".
He insisted that the Israeli air violations were a "clear violation" of Security Council resolution 1701 which ended the month-long war between Israel and Hizbullah guerrillas in southern Lebanon in August.
That resolution also called for the disarming of Hizbullah guerrillas and the withdrawal of Israeli troops from southern Lebanon.
Speaking on the sidelines of the EU summit in Lahti, in southern Finland, Chirac said: "I note that we strongly would like resolution 1701 to be applied in the letter and the spirit and that Israeli air force flights over Lebanon (are) against the spirit and the letter of 1701."
"One way or another this resolution has to be applied," the French president said, while declining to comment on Pellegrini's remarks.
Alliot-Marie for her part said she was told during a videoconference with the UNIFIL headquarters in the southern Lebanese town of Naqura Friday that the Israeli air violations had stopped over the past 48 hours.
And she stressed that the ground-to-air missiles protecting the French contingent in the UN mission in Lebanon (UNIFIL) were exclusively for self-defence.
The minister also noted that the Israeli air incursions made that resolution 1701 "more fragile" because they could be used by some people -- an apparent reference to Hizbullah -- as a "pretext" not to abide by their obligations under the resolution.
"This is the reason why it is necessary that these violations stop now," Alliot-Marie said. "So far the (French) ground-to-air missiles are only meant for self-protection and self-defence and will not be used in a different fashion."
She expressed hope that Israel could be convinced through diplomatic channels that violating Lebanese air space "is against its own interest" and is "counter-productive."
But Mark Regev, the Israeli foreign ministry spokesman, retorted Friday that his country had fulfilled its key obligations under resolution 1701.
"Three weeks ago our forces pulled out of Lebanon, and we have implemented our most important obligations under UN resolution 1701," he said. "But every objective person should recognise that is far from the case concerning the Lebanese and their obligations."
"Contrary to resolution 1701, two Israeli soldiers kidnapped by Hizbullah haven't been freed, Hizbullah's military infrastructure south of the Litani river has not been dismantled, and Hizbullah's rearming continues," he said.
"Apparently it is simpler to make new demands on Israel, and we deplore that," Regev told AFP.