France and US present resolution to end Lebanon war

Sat Aug 5, 10:01 PM ET

UNITED NATIONS (AFP) - France and the United States have proposed a UN Security Council resolution demanding a "full cessation of hostilities" between Hezbollah and Israel but it was immediately rejected by Lebanon.

There was also no letup in the fighting and an Israeli minister said his country's military assault in southern Lebanon would go on until the Security Council passes a resolution.

The measure, negotiated over a week of intense talks between France and the United States, also seeks an international force to police a buffer zone in southern Lebanon, once agreement on a long term political settlement is reached.

More meetings on the text were to be held at the UN headquarters, but France's ambassador Jean-Marc de La Sabliere said there could be a full council vote on Monday or Tuesday.

The French envoy and his US counterpart, John Bolton, both said they were encouraged by the first reactions to the text from other members of the 15-member Security Council. Only Qatar, the only Arab member, expressed doubts about the document.

"I didn't hear anything that was particularly discouraging," Bolton told reporters. "People are generally pleased with the draft and prepared to move as expeditiously as possible."

The draft "calls for a full cessation of hostilities based upon, in particular, the immediate cessation by Hezbollah of all attacks and the immediate cessation by Israel of all offensive military operations."

It gives "strong support for full respect for the Blue Line" the unofficial border between Lebanon and Israel.

Both France and the United States sides appear to have made concessions.

France had sought an "immediate cessation of hostilities".

The text makes no explicit demand for the release of two Israeli soldiers abducted by Hezbollah, as the United States reportedly wanted.

It emphasizes the "need to address urgently the causes that have given rise to the current crisis, including by the unconditional release of the abducted Israeli soldiers."

Similarly it only encourages "efforts aimed at settling the issue of the Lebanese prisoners detained in Israel."

But the text does stress the need to carry out previous accords and UN resolution 1559 which calls for the disarmament of Hezbollah and other armed groups in Lebanon.

A White House spokesman said President George W. Bush was "happy" with the draft. But the spokesman Tony Snow added: "I don't think he has any delusions about what lies ahead" in efforts to half the violence.

Britain's Prime Minister Tony Blair called the proposed resolution a "vital first step" toward a conflict. Russia and China, key permanent members of the council, emphasized the need to make Israel, Lebanon and Hezbollah accept the resolution to make it work.

Lebanon rejected the draft. Hezbollah reaffirmed that there could be no ceasefire while Israeli troops remain in Lebanon. There was no immediate approval or rejection from Israel.

Lebanon's Prime Minister Fuad Siniora told CNN television the draft was "not adequate". Acting foreign minister Tarek Mitri has been sent to the UN headquarters with an amended version, a government source said.

Lebanon's acting ambassador at the UN Nouhad Mahmoud said Israeli troops must be told to leave Lebanese territory otherwise it would be "a recipe for more confrontation".

"It has taken three weeks to come up with something that has cost Lebanon a lot," he said referring to the death toll of about 900 in Lebanon since Israel started its campaign on July 12. More than 50 Israelis have also been killed.

One of the two Hezbollah ministers in the Lebanese government, Mohammed Fneish, said: "We are in a defense situation. When the Israeli aggression ceases, very simply, we will stop (fighting) on condition that no Israeli soldier remains inside Lebanese land."

Israeli Tourism Minister Isaac Herzog, speaking for the government, called the text "important" but added: "Until the resolution enters into force, the army will continue to act."

The resolution would deploy a UN-mandated international force in southern Lebanon between the Litani river and the Israeli border -- a zone that has been controlled by Hezbollah and is the focus of the Israeli air and ground campaign.

It gives no timeframe for the deployment but says all other armed personnel had to leave the area.

The draft also calls for a delineation of Lebanon's borders, highlighting the case of the Shebaa Farms area.

Israel seized the territory from Syria in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war but Hezbollah has vowed to recapture the land and it is now claimed by Lebanon with the approval of Damascus.

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