After lengthy negotiations on the proposal by the United States
and France on the Lebanon conflict, the United Nations Security
Council (UNSC) reacted in a "generally positive" way and was close
to reaching an agreement on the draft with only a few details left
to discuss, the president of the Security Council, Ghana's Nana
Effah-Apenteng said on Sunday.
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The UNSC discussed the proposal over Saturday and Sunday in New
York while many Arab countries were pushing for a political and
peaceful settlement of the crisis which has lasted for nearly a
month.
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The resolution calls on both sides to observe "a full cessation of
hostilities, in particular, the immediate cessation by Hezbollah of
all attacks and the immediate cessation by Israel of all offensive
military operations."
The resolution also called on Israel and Lebanon "to support a
permanent ceasefire and a long-term solution."
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Sunday that both
Israel and Lebanese Hezbollah should respond to a proposed UN
Security Council resolution and halt fighting.
"There are things the Israelis wanted and things the Lebanese
wanted, and everybody was not going to get everything that they
wanted," Rice said at a briefing in Crawford, Texas, where she met
with US President George W. Bush at his ranch.
The fighting between Israel and the Lebanese Hezbollah should
stop now, Rice said, calling on the 15-nation UN Security Council
to support the draft UN Security Council resolution on Lebanon
proposed by the United States and France.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair also welcomed on Saturday the
agreement of a draft United Nations resolution as "an absolutely
vital first step" toward ending the conflict in Lebanon.
"It is an important breakthrough," Blair said in a statement,
adding "the priority now is to get the resolution adopted as soon
as possible and then to work for a permanent ceasefire and achieve
the conditions in Lebanon and Israel which will prevent a
recurrence."
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday called for an
immediate end to hostilities in Lebanon in a phone conversation
with Blair, the Kremlin said.
Putin and Blair discussed the drafting of a UN Security Council
resolution on the situation in Lebanon, Putin's press service said
in a statement.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel also welcomed the draft
resolution as "an important step towards ending hostilities".
Israeli media, meanwhile, reacted positively to the proposal,
but no official comment has been forthcoming from the
government.
However, Lebanese Prime Minister Souad Siniora on Sunday met the
ambassadors of the five permanent members of the UN Security
Council, expressing his government's "reserved" opinion toward the
draft resolution.
Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri said on Sunday that
Lebanon refused to accept the draft UN Security Council resolution
as it did not comply with a seven-point plan which was put forward
by Lebanese Prime Minister Souad Siniora during an international
conference held in Rome, Italy, on July 26 to resolve the
Lebanon-Israel crisis.
Berri called on Arab countries to support the seven-point plan,
including an immediate ceasefire, an exchange of prisoners, putting
the Shebaa Farms under the UN control, sending the Lebanese army
into south Lebanon and expanding the UN peacekeeping force, rather
than merely approving it in word.
Arab League (AL) Secretary General Amr Moussa said the entire
Arab world was now moving in one direction in support of Lebanon
against Israeli aggression.
He again criticized the UN Security Council for failing so far
to pass a ceasefire resolution, adding that the AL could have been
able to offer a lot if the Security Council had done its duty to
end hostilities.
Jordanian King Abdullah II voiced his support for the
seven-point plan put forward by Lebanese Prime Minister
Siniora.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit had a phone
conversation with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on the
latest developments in Lebanon and the need to halt Israel's
military operations, calling for a political settlement of the
25-day-old Hezbollah-Israel conflict.?
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The Iranian Foreign Ministry said on Sunday that any resolution
adopted by the Security Council must be "fair", not one-sided, and
the objective behind passing a UNSC resolution should be to resolve
the current crisis in Lebanon, so it has to consider the views of
all the Lebanese.
The Security Council would further negotiate the draft and give
it a vote within days. If the draft is passed, the Security Council
would then discuss issues on the mandate for an international
security force in southern Lebanon and a permanent ceasefire in the
region, UN source said.
(Xinhua News Agency August 7, 2006)
