August 4, 2006

INTENSIVE TALKS BETWEEN ANNAN AND THE FIVE PERMANENT MEMBERS OF THE UNSC FOCUS ON WAYS OF STOPPING THE WAR ON LEBANON. THE EUROPEAN UNION CALLS FOR AN IMMEDIATE CEASE-FIRE. THE FRENCH MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS WARNS OF THE RISKS SURROUNDING THE WHOLE REGION IF A CEASE-FIRE IS NOT IMPLEMENTED. ISRAEL ESCALATES ITS ATTACKS AND THREATENS OF ATTACKING BEIRUT AND OLMERT STRESSES THAT ISRAEL WOULD CONTINUE ITS ATTACKS. United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan met with the five permanent members of the Security Council in informal talks focused on the crisis in the Middle East and how best to stop the bloodshed in a conflict that has killed hundreds of people and forced almost a million others to flee their homes across the region. Mr. Annan discussed with the ambassadors from China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States the cessation of hostilities, a ceasefire and political framework for a settlement, as well as the composition and deployment of a stabilization force for Lebanon and the humanitarian situation, a UN spokesman told reporters. "The Secretary-General was satisfied with the outcome of this breakfast meeting and his discussions with the P-5 (Permanent Five) which permitted a clarification of the critical issues on the table and a discussion of the timelines," said Ahmad Fawzi. Mr. Fawzi said the participants had discussed various concepts relating to a new force for Lebanon, recalling that the Secretary-General had strongly urged them to agree on a common position. "He pleaded with the Council on Sunday to set their differences aside to stop the killing." Also on the subject of a possible international force, Mr. Fawzi said that a meeting will take place on Thursday to discuss which countries could potentially contribute troops for such a mission. The meeting, originally intended for yesterday, is being organized by the Department of Peacekeeping Operations and will be chaired by UN Under-Secretary-General Jean Marie Guéhenno. The meeting is intended to pave the way for a force while governments could decide what option they preferred, Mr. Fawzi said, distinguishing between UN peacekeepers, as opposed to a "coalition of the willing" under the leadership of a specific State with a mandate from the Security Council. Mr. Annan "is urging Member States to resolve their own differences and that's why he's called for this technical meeting so we canlay down the groundwork for a force and give time to the politicians to decide what the mandate will be," the spokesman said. Responding to press questions, Mr. Fawzi reiterated the Secretary-General's urgent appeal for a cessation of hostilities. "There can only be a political solution to this crisis," he stressed. The parties, he added, must "stop killing each other and get to the negotiating table." Given the fact that military action will not resolve the conflict, the spokesman said, "We have appealed to the parties to stop pulling the trigger and to start talking about a longer-term, more comprehensive solution." In New York, France, Britain and the United States edged closer to an agreement at the United Nations that would call for the cessation of hostilities in Lebanon, with a settlement potentially including the deployment of a multinational force. "I think we are working very well, we are getting closer," said the French ambassador to the UN, Jean-Marc de la Sablière, as he entered a closed-door Security Council meeting on Wednesday after days of diplomatic wrangling. Other members seemed to agree with De la Sablière's positive outlook. "I'm confident that by [Thursday] we'll be in a position to have discussions in the council on a text which actually takes us forward. Prospects now of adoption soon of a resolution have improved considerably," said Britain's Ambassador to the UN, Emyr Jones Parry. France distributed a draft resolution to council members last Sunday, calling for an immediate cessation of hostilities as part of a seven-point position that would lead to an overall political framework for peace. After Wednesday's council meeting, John Bolton, the US Ambassador to the UN, noted there were no "philosophical differences", but "differences in approach to the nature of the cessation of hostilities and how to make it permanent". He added that there was almost complete agreement on the fundamental political framework, which would lead to agreement on the mandate of an international force and its composition. Bolton also referred to council resolution 1559, which calls for the disarming of domestic militias, he said, "Hezbollah has to give up being an armed force, a force that carries out terrorist action." The Hezbollah party is represented in the Lebanese cabinet and holds 24 seats in parliament. One option, according to a European diplomat, is a quick resolution calling for an immediate cessation of hostilities, with a more comprehensive political solution to follow in a second resolution. France and the US worked through a number of bilateral meetings on Wednesday to try to iron out their differences, and a revised French draft resolution may circulate later. The French have put their foot down regarding a ceasefire, then a political solution with a discussion of a multinational force. They have indicated they would be interested in leading a multinational force. They decided not to attend a meeting of potential troop contributors, noting, as De la Sablière said last week, "It is too earlyit is putting the cart before the horse." There are a number of ideas as to how many troops would be deployed, or what countries would participate, including weighing the possibility of a multinational force or UN peacekeepers. One mandate being discussed is a 'coalition of the willing', whereby troops from UN member states would be deployed immediately to the region where their sheer presence would help quell the fighting, according to a senior UN official. That way, two contingents could be shipped out - one immediately, one later - to create the circumstances for a ceasefire. Meantime French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy was in Beirut last Monday for talks with Lebanese officials one day ahead of a meeting with his European counterparts aimed at securing a cease-fire in Lebanon. Douste-Blazy arrived in Beirut early Monday and went immediately into a meeting with his Lebanese counterpart, Fawzi Salloukh, before sitting down with Prime Minister Fouad Saniora at the Grand Serail. Following are exerts on the situation in the Middle East statements made by M. Philippe Douste-Blazy, Minister of Foreign Affairs, during his joint press briefing with Mr Fawzi Salloukh, Lebanese Minister of Foreign Affairs. THE MINISTER On this day of national mourning after the Qana tragedy, I have come first of all to express the French authorities' solidarity and condolences to the families of the Qana victims. I want to express our whole-hearted solidarity, our unshakeable friendship to the whole Lebanese people, to the parents and close relations of the children, the women, of all the innocent people, slaughtered by a terrible, unjustifiable act which France immediately condemned. I have come to tell them that, as in 1996, France stands beside them to share their immense pain, and also to do the utmost to prevent such tragedies recurring. () For France, the ceasefire is today a priority and a matter of urgency and, with the immediate ceasefire, the lifting of the blockade and return of the displaced people to their homes and villages. It's a very clear message, President Chirac's message, the message I took to Rome. Yesterday's tragedy shows us once again ()that the weapons must at last be silenced. Provocation leads to retaliation. Retaliation leads to unstoppable escalation. I'm asking for the hostilities to be halted immediately. I'm asking the parties involved genuinely to show courage and responsibility by stopping the fighting. Part of this message has got through, because yesterday evening the Security Council called for the first time for the cessation of violence and stressed the urgent need for a sustainable, permanent and viable ceasefire. The Security Council has thus shown its determination. We would, of course, have preferred a stronger text, calling for an immediate ceasefire, together with a firm condemnation of what happened in Qana, but I'm convinced that the adopted text allows us to move forward. So I call on all the parties to respond positively to this Security Council appeal and immediately stop the violence. So I call for an immediate de-escalation. Nonetheless, there is today a real risk of oscillating between the humanitarian and military dimensions, leaving the political aspect, which is nevertheless at the heart of any solution, a bit to one side. Yes, we have to find a political settlement. This is France's message. For the first time, the Security Council has expressed its determination to work without any further delay on the adoption of a resolution to achieve a sustainable settlement of the crisis. We have to move fast. France has proposed a plan for a balanced and sustainable settlement. She has drafted and circulated a draft resolution in New York which should be considered in the next few days. This plan includes the following elements: first of all the immediate cessation of hostilities, then the establishment of a political agreement for the settlement of the crisis, release of the prisoners and Lebanese and Israeli detainees, implementation of the Taif agreement and extension of the Lebanese government's authority over the whole of its territory, settlement of the issue of the Shebaa farms whose borders must be delineated and which in the interim could be placed under United Nations' jurisdiction and respect of the sovereignty of Lebanon and of Israel. Finally, this plan also envisages the prospect of creating an international stabilization force, but only and this in our view is very important with the two parties' agreement, with the objective of helping them implement the political agreement concluded between them. I want here to pay tribute to Lebanon's national unity in the wake of the Qana tragedy and the strength of Nabih Berri and Prime Minister Fouad Siniora's statements. I salute the united, determined position which the whole Lebanese government has adopted, with the seven-point plan the Prime Minister presented in Rome. Today, the Lebanese government's plan and the one France is advancing have a great many similarities. There is here an opportunity to be seized in order to end the crisis. Yes, I say this here from Beirut: in our view the military situation is a blind alley. Political questions call for political solutions. It's now up to everyone to show responsibility and choose the path of peace. This is the message and the hope which I have come to bring here today. France said that Iran has a role to play in ending the fighting in Lebanon and that the French and Iranian foreign ministers met to discuss what it could be. Philippe Douste-Blazy and Manouchehr Mottaki both visited Beirut and arranged a meeting to consider "to what measure Iran could contribute to a de-escalation of the conflict," Foreign Ministry spokesman Denis Simonneau said in Paris. "Iran can play a role of stabilization," he said -- but he added that "Iran must assume all its responsibilities" before the international community. He gave no other details of the talks. During his trip Mr. Douste-Blazy also met Lebanon's parliament speaker Nabih Berri. In Damascus Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem met heads of the Arab and foreign diplomatic missions in Damascus and briefed them on the Syrian stance over the Israeli continuing aggression on Lebanon. Mr. Muallem expressed Syria's condemnation of the Israeli brutal aggression, solidarity with Lebanon and full readiness to offer everything available to support Lebanon's steadfastness and relieve its suffering under the Israeli aggression and siege. He stressed the necessity of giving top priority to immediate unconditional ceasefire in Lebanon, saying that Israeli massacres against innocent civilians in Lebanon, of which Qana carnage has been the latest, are war crimes according to the humanitarian international law. The Foreign Minister added there was need to drum up international efforts to form a fact-finding commission to investigate into Israeli massacres in Qana and other places in Lebanon perpetrated over the past three weeks. Mr. Muallem warned against some political ideas circulated on the international stage to grant Israel political gains that it couldn't win by military means. He called for intensive Arab and international efforts to put an end to Israel's aggression and holding it responsible for its subsequent catastrophic consequences. On the other hand European Union foreign ministers meeting in Brussels have called for an immediate end to hostilities in Lebanon, watering down demands for an immediate ceasefire at the insistence of the United States' closest allies. A joint statement adopted at the August crisis meeting of the 25-nation bloc said the council calls for an immediate end to hostilities to be followed by a sustainable ceasefire. The convoluted formula, relayed by diplomats, was agreed after four hours of talks as Israel escalated attacks on Hezbollah guerrillas and vowed to step up ground operations, defying calls for a ceasefire. Announcing the statement, the Finnish Foreign Minister, Errki Tuomioja, said that it was important to get the words and concepts right in the statement and insisted there were no divisions in the EU. Diplomats said Britain and Germany, backed by the Netherlands, had rejected an earlier draft which called for an immediate ceasefire. A majority of countries, led by France, had wanted the EU to demand an immediate ceasefire in Lebanon. Earlier, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Dermot Ahern, said Ireland would call for an immediate end to hostilities at the meeting. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who is the current head of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, has described the shelling of the Lebanese village of Qana which killed 60 people as an unacceptable violation of human rights, RIA-Novosti reported. "As a defender of human rights, the Council of Europe regards such violations as unacceptable," Lavrov said in a statement circulated from Strasbourg. On behalf of the Council of Europe, the Russian foreign minister sent condolences to the leadership and people of Lebanon in connection with this tragedy. "The Russian chairmanship of the Council of Europe deeply regrets the deaths of many civilians in Lebanon caused by Israeli strikes, including the deaths of tens of residents of Qana, among whom are women and children. On behalf of the Council of Europe we express our condolences to the leaders and people of Lebanon," the statement reads. The Russian foreign minister said that "the killing and wounding of innocent people on all sides involved (in the conflict) as a result of the escalation of tension in the Middle East is a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law and human rights, including the most important right to life." "The Council of Europe has always emphasized that the struggle against international terrorism should be conducted in strict compliance with international laws and standards in the sphere of human rights. The Council of Europe is worried that recent tragic events in the Middle East may provoke further growth of extremism and intolerance and thus make more difficult the dialogue necessary for the restoration of peace in the region," the statement reads. The African Union (AU) on Tuesday condemned what it described as Israel's indiscriminate bombing which killed over 60 civilians, including 37 children, in the Lebanese village of Qana. "The Chairman of the Commission of the African Union, Alpha Omar Konare, condemns in the strongest terms the bombing of Qana, which cannot be justified under any circumstances," the AU said in a statement. Israeli commandos struck deep into Lebanon and snatched five suspected fighters in a helicopter raid that provoked the heaviest rain of Hezbollah rocket fire in the 22-day-old conflict. "We have carried out this operation to prove that we can hit everywhere in Lebanon," Army Chief of Staff Dan Halutz told reporters in the Israeli border town of Kiryat Shmona after the raid on Baalbek, 100 kilometers (60 miles) to the north. Minutes later, a missile fell near Beit Shean, some 60 kilometers south of the border, Hezbollah's deepest strike yet into Israel. Police said at least 230 rockets had slammed into northern Israel in what was by mid afternoon already the biggest single-day barrage from Lebanon since the Jewish state launched its offensive against Hezbollah on July 12. At least 36 rockets struck populated areas, killing at least one person and wounding 19 others. The barrage came a day after Israeli Premier Ehud Olmert said the offensive had significantly weakened Hezbollah. "Today, the threat posed by Hezbollah is not what it was. It can no longer threaten this people, as this people have stood up to it and have come out victorious," Olmert said. Israeli warplanes meanwhile roared back into full-scale action, destroying two bridges in northern Lebanon and killing three Lebanese soldiers in the southern port of Sidon. Israel had called a 48-hour partial halt to air attacks after a raid on the Lebanese village of Qana that killed 62 civilians, most of them children. The deaths caused worldwide outrage and prompted calls for an immediate cease-fire. But Olmert dismissed the calls and Tuesday Israel broadened its offensive on the ground, pouring thousands of crack infantrymen, paratroopers and reserve units into southern Lebanon. Five soldiers were wounded in clashes with Hezbollah fighters in the village of Mhaibib in the southeast corner of Lebanon, an army spokesman said. Olmert told British television that Israel would continue to fight Hezbollah until an international force "an effective force made of combat units" is deployed in south Lebanon. In a sign of progress, the permanent UN Security Council members embarked on intense talks on the conflict and ambassadors said a resolution setting out a possible settlement was close. "I'm confident that by tomorrow we'll be in a position to have discussions in the council on a text which actually takes us forward," Britain's UN Ambassador Emyr Jones-Parry told reporters. France and the United States had been divided over whether a political settlement should be agreed between Israel and Hezbollah before any international force is sent in. This resulted in a meeting of countries likely to contribute forces to the UN peace mission set for Thursday being postponed. Police said the Israelis snatched five people in the raid, carried out within sight of three ancient Roman temples which rise dramatically from the valley floor. Eleven civilians, one of them a Syrian, died in the attack, they said. Israeli warplanes destroyed two bridges in northern Lebanon, about five kilometres from the border with Syria. And police in Sidon in the south said three Lebanese Army soldiers were killed when Israeli warplanes strafed a nearby military base, hours after resuming air strikes. Farther south, the head of the town council in the port of Tyre said the funerals of those killed in the Israeli raid on Qana had been postponed in the face of the renewed Israeli bombardment. In Tel Aviv, an army spokeswoman said the Hezbollah fighters captured in Baalbek had been brought to Israel and that all the Israeli troops involved in the raid had returned to their base. Hezbollah denied the claim, saying that "the citizens kidnapped in Baalbek are normal civilians." A statement broadcast by Hezbollah's Al-Manar television said: "The Islamic Resistance announces that it has foiled an Israeli landing operation in Baalbek and denies that the enemy has captured any of its members." A Hezbollah spokesman had earlier said that Israeli troops were surrounded after attacking Dar Al-Hikmeh Hospital, which is run by the group, about two kilometres southwest of Baalbek. The spokesman said all patients had been evacuated from the hospital on July 12, when Hezbollah fighters captured two Israeli soldiers in a cross-border raid. That move prompted a massive Israeli offensive by air, land and sea in which more than 820 Lebanese and 50 Israelis have been killed. Lebanese officials estimate that Israeli bombardments have caused losses of $2.5 billion, with half a billion this week alone, setting the country's infrastructure back several years. Meantime the EU's International Development Commissioner, Louis Michel, has said that a cease fire between Israeli forces and Lebanon's Hezbollah militia is "a must". Mr Michel added that only in this way could aid reach the population of southern Lebanon via safe corridors. Mr Michel lashed out at Israel saying that Israel's right to self defence did not give it the right to bomb the Lebanese capital, Beirut, and destroy Lebanon's vital infrastructure. The EU Commissioner criticised both Israel and Hezbollah for failing to agree on safe corridors to allow aid to be brought in. Mr Michel told the Belgian press agency Belga that there was no military solution to the conflict. Only dialogue could provide an enduring settlement. The European Commission is increasing humanitarian aid to Lebanon from 10 to 50 million euros.