BERLIN - Germany's defence minister said in an interview on Thursday that he expected the country to contribute more than 1,200 troops to a U.N. peacekeeping mission in Lebanon.

French President Jacques Chirac(R) and German Chancellor Angela Merkel give a press conference at the Elysee Palace in Paris, after a meeting. European nations pledged up to 7,000 troops to form the core of a beefed-up peacekeeping mission in Lebanon capable of enforcing the fragile truce between Israel and Hezbollah, officials said. [AFP]

"We are still in discussions, particularly with the Lebanese government. I assume the number will be bigger," Franz Josef Jung told the Hannover-based daily Neue Presse in response to a question about whether Germany could send 1,200 soldiers.

This would make Germany the third largest contributor of troops after France and Italy.

The German newspaper Handelsblatt cited government sources as saying that more than 1,500 German troops and two naval frigates could be sent as part of an expanded U.N. force in the region that will be charged with enforcing a ceasefire between Israel and Hizbollah fighters in southern Lebanon.

The plan would be to patrol the entire Lebanese coast to prevent arms smuggling, Handelsblatt said.

Jung's comments are the first official indication of how many troops Germany could send on the mission. Germany has ruled out sending ground troops, but has said it is ready to patrol the Lebanese coast to prevent arms being delivered to Hizbollah.

"We must have no illusions," Jung said. "We could be drawn into fighting."

Germany is also considering providing support for Lebanese police and customs agents and could provide air reinforcements.