The United Nations will discuss reinforcing its peacekeeping force in
Lebanon and the Arab League (AL) is preparing for an emergency summit to avert
an all-out war in the Middle East.
In Brussels, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan called on Tuesday for the
establishment of a larger and stronger international force in Lebanon than the
current 2,000-strong contingent, which was created in 1978 to monitor the Blue
Line separating Israel and Lebanon and which is responsible for reporting
violations by either side.
Annan underscored that the new force would have "different capabilities" from
the present UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), appearing to suggest a much
more powerful military presence.
He expected European and other countries to supply troops for the force,
saying "it is urgent that the international community acts to make a difference
on the ground."
Standing next to Annan at a news conference, EU foreign policy chief Javier
Solana said: "We are ready to help."
Several EU nations have said they were ready to contribute forces to a
Lebanon stabilization force if the U.N. Security Council agreed to form one.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair first mentioned such a force at the G8
summit in St. Petersburg, Russia on Monday as the only way to achieve a
cessation of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah militants in Lebanon.
By early Wednesday, at least 237 people had been killed in Lebanon and 25 in
Israel since fighting broke out July 12 between Israeli forces and Hezbollah
guerrillas following its capture of two Israeli soldiers.
Beirut and southern Lebanon in particular have suffered punishing raids by
the Israeli air force. Some half-a-million people have been displaced.
Annan said earlier that Vijay Nambiar, his special political adviser, who had
reported "constructive" talks with the Lebanese leadership in Beirut, planned to
go to Israel Tuesday and then "possibly go back to Lebanon" and on to Damascus,
Syria, in efforts to "find a way of getting the parties to end the hostilities."
In the meantime, the AL was trying to win the support of more Arab nations to
call an emergency summit to deal with the crisis which threatens the wider
security of the region.
The idea of holding such a summit was proposed by Yemeni President Ali
Abdallah Saleh on July 12, shortly after the Israeli army and the Hezbollah
guerilla group clashed in the border area.
Up to now, eight AL members have showed their readiness to attend the
proposed summit, namely, Egypt, Sudan, Algeria, Yemen, Qatar, Lebanon, Djibouti
and the Palestinians, but the number remains short of the necessary majority of
two thirds of the 22 league members.
AL Secretary-General Amr Moussa said in a statement on Monday that the Middle
East peace process had failed and it was important to refer the whole Middle
East crisis to the UN Security Council.
Moussa said the Arabs were not seeking a UN Security Council draft resolution
or statements, instead, the Arabs would like the Security Council to have a
clear and accurate political review of all the regional issues.
Tensions in the Middle East have been dramatically heightened as Israel has
pressed ahead with a massive assault in Lebanon since July 12 and continued a
three-week-old offensive in the GazaStrip.
Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora pleaded on Tuesday for the international
community to organize an immediate ceasefire, accusing Israel of massacres and
wanting to blast his country "back 50 years."
In a statement, he "implored the international community and the Arab
countries to work toward installing an immediate ceasefire" to end Israel's
week-old offensive against Lebanon.
The Syrian cabinet emphasized on Tuesday its readiness in all fields to face
all future scenarios as Israel continued to bomb neighboring Lebanon for the
seventh day.
Syrian Prime Minister Mohammad Naji Ottri underlined "the importance of
coordination and integration of government performance" to upgrade the state of
readiness in all sectors in order to "face all prospects in the future", the
official SANA news agency reported.
Chairing a weekly cabinet meeting, the premier hailed the steadfastness of
the national resistance in Lebanon and its qualitative operations that had
inflicted grave loss on the Jewish state.
Egypt called for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire.
"Israel will not emerge as a victor in this war. It will only create more
enemies," said President Hosni Mubarak. "The war will only inflame Arab
animosity toward Israel, many anti-Israel extremist forces will surface and
Israel will find itself the loser rather than the victor in this war."
While warning Israel against more military operations, Mubarak also cautioned
that other countries should resort to "wise judgment" in light of the conflict.
Shortly after the Israeli-Hezbollah clashes on the border area on Wednesday,
Mubarak made phone calls to or met face-to-face with leaders of Jordan, Syria,
Saudi Arabia, Yemen and Bahrain to discuss the conflict.
Egypt, one of the only two Arab countries to have a peace treaty with Israel,
has long played the role of mediator in regional problems, especially in the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
French President Jacques Chirac on Tuesday called for maximum humanitarian
aid to be brought to Lebanon.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday called for calm in the Middle
East.
"The main thing now is to stop the worsening of the conflict, [to] not allow
extremists to bring chaos to the region, and to prevent a wider conflict," Putin
told a press conference at the end of the three-day G-8 summit.
The Russian president urged the return of the two Israeli soldiers, saying
"we would very much like to see the speedy return of the kidnapped and a stop to
the bloodshed."
"But I am also not confident that the return of soldiers will stop the
conflict," said the G8 summit host.
As world leaders tried frantically to use their influence to try to avert an
all-out war in the Middle East, U.S. President George W. Bush was moving with
care.
The Bush administration is trying to drum up diplomatic support for a
so-called ceasefire of "lasting value," that is, where the Lebanese army takes
control of the south and disarms the Hezbollah militia.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has conferred by phone with Israel's
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and at the State Department with Foreign Minister
Ahmed Abul Gheit of Egypt.
She will probably travel to the area this weekend, but there has been no
announcement.
Israel did not rule out negotiations, but Prime Minister Ehud Olmert vowed to
continue operations in Lebanon until Hezbollah returned the two captured Israeli
soldiers, stopped rocket attacks on Israel and pulled back from the borders that
Lebanon shares with his nation.