French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy called on the UN Security
Council on Tuesday to take into consideration Beirut's proposal to deploy 15,000
soldiers in south Lebanon.
"This important initiative was agreed upon unanimously by all the members of
the Lebanese government, which includes two Hezbollah ministers," said
Douste-Blazy in a statement.
It showed a "will on behalf of all the Lebanese parties to enable the
Lebanese government to exercise their sovereignty over the entire nation," said
the French foreign minister in Paris.
France supports "this very clear political fact" which changes the context
for the "ongoing talks in New York," he said.
Arab League envoys in New York would urge Security Council later Tuesday to
push for an Israeli pullout. "We are working to have this first resolution
mention a withdrawal of the Israeli army and Hezbollah," said Denis Simonneau,
French Foreign Ministry spokesman.
On Monday evening, Douste-Blazy called on the U.S. to improve a UN draft
resolution by taking the concerns of Arab nations into account.
The Lebanese cabinet agreed on Monday night to deploy, with the help of the
UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon, known as UNIFIL, 15,000 troops in the south
as Israeli forces pull back behind the Blue Line (border).
