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Mideast 'nightmare' must end
10/08/2006 22:53 - (SA)
United Nations - UN Secretary General Kofi Annan on Thursday called on the UN Security Council to pass a resolution on the "nightmare" Lebanon war by the end of the week as France and the United States wrangled over the wording of a text.
"The secretary general believes that it ought to be possible for the Security Council to adopt a resolution by the end of the week," a UN spokesperson said following a meeting between Annan and the US and French ambassadors.
Annan also reiterated a "call that the fighting must stop to save civilians on both sides from the nightmare they have endured in the past four weeks," said the UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric.
There has been growing international frustration at the Security Council's failure to make a truce call more than four weeks into the conflict that has left more than 1 000 civilians dead in Lebanon and 38 in Israel.
The United States also showed signs of impatience at the slow pace of negotiations.
'Countries must take stock'
"We are fast approaching a time when countries need to take stock of the situation before them, what the possibilities of a resolution are," said State Department spokesperson Sean McCormack.
France's Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy expressed optimism however.
"We are expecting an agreement in New York from one moment to the next," he told a press conference in Paris.
"I have seen some very positive developments over the past 24 hours. Things are moving today in New York. I hope they move even faster in the coming hours," Douste-Blazy said.
Despite predictions that the Security Council could pass a joint French-US resolution demanding an end to hostilities at the start of the week, negotiations have dragged on since Lebanon demanded that any resolution include a call for Israeli troops to be withdrawn.
Dujarric said Thursday's meeting between US ambassador John Bolton, French envoy Jean-Marc de La Sabliere and Annan had been at the request of the ambassadors to discuss their negotiations.
The UN secretary general also spoke on Thursday with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Israeli and Lebanese leaders, Dujarric told a press briefing.
"The secretary general is working very intensely with Security Council members and key leaders both here in New York and in capitals to push for a resolution concerning the situation along the Blue Line," said the spokesperson.
France wants a resolution to incorporate Lebanese demands that Israeli troops must leave Lebanon as soon as fighting stops. Lebanon has offered to deploy a 15 000-strong force in the south of the country.
The United States, Israel's major ally, wants Israeli troops to be able to remain in southern Lebanon until an international force arrives, fearing that Hezbollah could retake control of the border zone.
France has proposed putting a paragraph in a new draft resolution allowing Israel to make a phased withdrawal, a diplomat said.
- AFP
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