Bush praises Italy offer to lead Lebanon force

US President George W. Bush has told Italy's Prime Minister Romano Prodi of his "positive" view of Italy's offer to lead a UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon, Prodi said in a statement on Thursday.

In a phone call with Prodi, Bush "talked of his contacts with the UN secretary general in which the availability and Italian leadership were commented on very positively," the statement said. (Reuters)