U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Saturday that she hopes
the violence in the Middle East could end in "a day or so" after the passing of
a U.N. Security Council on the Lebanon crisis.
"I would hope that within no more than a day or so that there would be a
cessation of the hostilities on the ground," Rice said in interview with Israeli
media, U.S. media reported.
Rice said that since the passing of the U.N. Security Council resolution on
Lebanon on Friday, U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan has been discussing a
cease-fire timetable with Israel and Lebanon.
Rice made the remarks after the U.N. Security Council unanimously adopted a
resolution on Friday, calling for Israeli troops withdrawal and authorizing an
increase of the existing U.N. force in Lebanon to 15,000 troops to help Lebanese
troops take control of south Lebanon as Israel withdraws.
France and the United States, cosponsors of the draft, came up with a
compromise final version after days of hard wrangling.
