PARIS - The Israeli army will pull out of southern Lebanon once 5,000 UN peacekeepers and 16,000 Lebanese troops have been deployed, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan told French radio Thursday.

"That is what I have just been discussing with the Israeli government," Annan said when asked whether 5,000 UN peacekeepers would be a sufficient force to persuade the Israeli army to withdraw from southern Lebanon.

"We agreed that with 5,000 UN troops and 16,000 Lebanese soldiers who will go down south, it would be a credible force to allow the Israelis to pull out entirely," Annan said on Europe 1 radio.

"I hope that a week to 10 days from now, we will have 5,000. At that point, the Israelis will be forced to pull out. It is very important because the situation is fragile.

"I think we need to move as soon as possible," Annan, who was in Israel Wednesday as part of a Middle East tour aimed at underpinning a fragile truce between Israel and Hezbollah militants, told the radio, speaking in French.

"As long as there are Israeli troops on Lebanese territory, there are some Lebanese who are going to consider that they are being occupied," he added.

But Israeli government spokeswoman Miri Eisen said it was not a matter of numbers but the effectiveness of the force.

"What was agreed is that as soon as there would be a robust force on the ground then Israel would immediately depart. We didn't actually talk about specific numbers," she told AFP in Jerusalem.

"As soon as we feel it would be a robust force, we are very happy to leave Lebanon... We have an interest to depart as soon as the situation feels for us that our defence would not be harmed. We would like that to be as soon as possible."

UN peacekeeping chief Jean-Marie Guehenno said on Wednesday the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) would have 4,000 to 5,000 troops at its disposal by the end of September.

The enlarged force is due to deploy in south Lebanon to enforce the ceasefire and support the Lebanese army as it takes up positions in the region.

Annan repeated his call -- rejected Wednesday by Israel -- for it to lift its near seven-week blockade of Lebanon before this first stage of the deployment is complete.

"We need to start lifting the blockade sooner because quite frankly I don't think the situation will hold until then," Annan said.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Wednesday his government will lift the blockade -- imposed to cut Hezbollah's supply lines -- as part of an overall implementation of the UN resolution under which the truce took effect.

Resolution 1701 calls for a strengthened international force in south Lebanon, the deployment of the Lebanese army there, the withdrawal of Israeli forces and the disarmament of Hezbollah.

It also calls on Lebanon to secure its borders to prevent entry into the country of arms without its consent, asking the enlarged UNIFIL to help in that task if requested.

Asked about violations of the ceasefire by Israeli forces, Annan said he was confident they "will be careful" in future.

"They are not going to provoke this kind of diversion, especially when the Security Council is alerted on a daily basis. Reports are made to the members of the council indicating who has committed what violations," he said.

Following visits to Lebanon, Israel, the West Bank and Jordan, Annan was expected Thursday in Damascus for talks with Syrian leaders, and is to continue to Iran, Qatar, Turkey and Saudi Arabia.

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