The United Nations Security Council(UNSC) on Saturday discussed the proposal by the United States and France on the Lebanon conflict, while many Arab countries were pushing for a political and peaceful settlement of the crisis which has lasted for nearly a month.

After lengthy negotiations on the proposal over Saturday and Sunday in New York, the Security Council 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.

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."

U.S. 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 U.S. 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 U.N. 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 U.S. 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

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.