President Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair announced Friday their support for a U.N. cease-fire resolution to end the Mideast crisis and a multinational force to help with humanitarian relief.
“We want a Lebanon free of militias and foreign interference, and a Lebanon that governs its own destiny,” Bush told reporters after meeting with Blair at the White House.
Bush said U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice would travel to the region Saturday, and that “her instructions are to work with Israel and Lebanon to come up with an acceptable U.N. Security Council resolution that we can table next week.”
Fifty-one Israelis — including 33 soldiers — have died in 17 days of fighting, and 398 Lebanese have been killed since the July 12 capture of two Israeli soldiers in a cross-border raid by the militant group Hezbollah.
Blair said he feels “deeply for people in Lebanon and people in Israel who are the innocent casualties of this conflict.”
“And what we’re putting forward today is actually a practical plan that would lead to a U.N. resolution — could be early next week — that will allow it, put in place the conditions for it to stop,” Blair said.
Bush said, “An effective multinational force will help speed delivery of humanitarian relief, facilitate the return of displaced persons, and support the Lebanese government as it asserts full sovereignty over its territory and guards its borders.”
Bush said he planned to appeal to the United Nations “for a Chapter 7 resolution setting out a clear framework for cessation of hostilities on an urgent basis, and mandating the multinational force.”
Earlier, a British government spokesman traveling with Blair said the prime minister believed that the United States would be willing to support a United Nations resolution on the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah next week.
British diplomats have been talking about a cease-fire followed by deployment of an international border force, CNN’s Robin Oakley reported. Then a second stage would begin, involving a larger border force that would also help with disarming Hezbollah and establishing a greater role for Lebanese government forces.
Friday’s Washington meeting follows an Italian conference of key Middle East decision-makers that failed to agree on an immediate cease-fire as the United States, backed by Britain, insisted any halt to violence should be linked to a wider effort to disarm Hezbollah.
A senior U.N. diplomat has described the mood at those talks as somber. He said all the parties but the United States wanted an immediate cessation of fighting to make room for more negotiations and humanitarian aid.
Rice argued that taking such an approach would leave Hezbollah in place and armed with rockets.
Before the Rome meeting, Rice visited the Lebanese capital, as well as Jerusalem and the West Bank.
Blair, meanwhile, faces pressure at home to salvage his diplomatic reputation after an eavesdropped conversation between him and Bush at a recent Group of Eight summit appeared to show the British prime minister’s deferential relationship with the U.S. leader.
Since the outbreak of fighting between Israel and Lebanese guerrillas, Blair has put himself at odds with Arab nations and Britain’s European allies by refusing to call for an immediate cease-fire — echoing U.S. policy.
Like Bush, Blair has said a cease-fire will work only if conditions are first put in place to ensure that both sides keep it.
Meanwhile Friday, French President Jacques Chirac said France will press for a U.N. Security Council resolution calling for a cease-fire in Lebanon, the AP reported.
A statement from Chirac’s office called for an international force under a U.N. mandate to support the cease-fire, according to the AP. France hopes to circulate a draft within days, the AP said.
After meeting with Bush, Blair is to travel to California — the first official visit to the state by a sitting prime minister, according to the British consulate in San Francisco. He will discuss issues such as globalization, trade and biotechnology.
Probably there is no spesific terms given by UN as punishment that states about any nation that wiil be found with mistake towards onother nation.And this actually will make unendless fighting which kills large number of innocent people.Now how can people define UN all over the world? is it problem solver of the world?where is its power of maintaining peace and harmony in the world?and if UN diplomatic means have failed where is other means like militarily that may be used to stop fighting.For this UN weakness is just like TO HAVE FAMILY WITHOUT FATHER.UN should take any means to ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon and not waiting for US or other great nations to decide on it.
Comment by Frank kipengele — August 8, 2006 @ 2:23 pm