While the official line from the government is that it's waiting to see what role its troops would play on the ground, a Government Office spokesman told The Prague Post Sept. 11 that the country doesn't have enough troops to spare for such a mission.

"Right now, it's not on the government's agenda," said spokesman Martin Schmarcz. "There are not enough soldiers."

The ranks of the Czech Army stand at 23,000 soldiers, about 800 of whom serve in peacekeeping missions abroad, according to the Defense Ministry.

Approximately 500 are stationed in Kosovo, and another 70 are in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Another 100 are in Iraq and Afghanistan each.

The UN force — known as the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, or UNIFIL — is an international mission that is drawing heavily from European Union countries, most notably Italy and France.

Italy has sent 1,000 soldiers and has committed another 2,000.

France has sent 250 soldiers, mostly military engineers, and has committed another 1,500 more.

All told, close to 2,500 soldiers are on the ground in Lebanon as part of UNIFIL (about 1,000 troops are leftover from the time of UNIFIL's creation, in the aftermath of Israel's 1978 invasion of Lebanon).

The ranks are set to grow after the UN Security Council changed UNIFIL's original mandate to now include up to 15,000 ground troops.

The mission is enforcing a buffer zone between southern Lebanon and Israel's northern border, where most of the hostilities have been concentrated since fighting broke out between Israel and Hezbollah guerillas July 12.

Right now, both sides operate under a shaky UN-brokered cease-fire in place for the past month.

European leaders have been criticized for being slow to respond, and the EU appeared loath to commit troops, citing the instability of the cease-fire.

European countries changed course Aug. 25, agreeing during a meeting of foreign ministers in Brussels to supply roughly half of the 15,000 troops that could eventually make up the UNIFIL mission.

After the Brussels meeting, then-Czech Foreign Affairs Minister Cyril Svoboda told reporters that he had pressed for a clearer mandate for the force in Lebanon.

Germany takes a similar stance, saying it is waiting for the UN to outline the role that German soldiers. But Germany says it will send troops.