Diplomacy Intensifies on Lebanon Crisis
19 July 2006
U.S. goal is to strengthen Lebanon, officials say
United Nations -- Diplomatic efforts to end the fighting in southern Lebanon and help the Lebanese government gain control of its territory are increasing in anticipation of meetings scheduled at U.N. headquarters July 20.
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan and the members of his special mission, led by Vijay Nambiar, will brief the 15-nation Security Council early in the day on the talks with Egypt, Lebanon and Israel. Annan is scheduled to meet with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and European Union High Commissioner Javier Solana in the evening.
In Washington, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said July 19 that Rice will "integrate what she hears" in New York into planning the diplomatic way forward. The secretary has been talking with Jordan's King Abdullah as well as leaders and foreign ministers of other countries in the region, including Saudi Arabia and Egypt.
"The current state of play," McCormack said, rests with the states in the region, such as Jordan, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia and others, who have condemned Hizballah's attack on Israel. They will have "an important role in bringing pressure to bear on the backers of Hizballah -- Syria and Iran, those states that do have leverage with Hizballah who could help bring about an end to the current violent situation."
"We want to see an end to the violence," McCormack said. "But we don't want … the kind of cease-fire where Hizballah is allowed to regroup, rearm, strengthen, only to pose an even greater threat to the stability of the region."
White House press secretary Tony Snow on July 19 also said, “You cannot have a cease-fire that is unilateral.” He said Hizballah shows no intention of laying down its arms, noting that the group’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, recently threatened attacks on Tel Aviv, Israel.
McCormack said Rice has spoken several times to Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora and that the United States has confidence in his leadership abilities. "We believe he's an important leader for the people of Lebanon once they emerge from this crisis to chart a pathway forward for a more stable, prosperous, democratic Lebanon,” he said.
Snow said it is important that the Lebanese government not be hostage to the terrorist organization and that it extends control over the country’s entire territory.
France, which holds the Security Council presidency for the month of July, circulated a paper meant as a starting point for talks on what action the council could take. It includes not only humanitarian concerns and ending the hostilities but especially focuses on the long-term solution of helping the Lebanese government assert its authority throughout the country and the possibility of an international security force in southern Lebanon.
Any council action, French Ambassador to the United Nations Jean-Marc de La Sabliere said, also must "condemn the extremists who are seeking to destabilize the region and those who are assisting them."
U.S. Ambassador John Bolton said July 19 that the central objective of U.S. efforts will be to build on the statement of the leaders at the 2006 Group of Eight (G8) Summit and help the government of Lebanon extend authority throughout the country.
Bolton, the chief U.S. envoy to the United Nations, said that it might be appropriate for the Security Council to take "some action" after the briefing by Annan and the Nambiar mission, but he did not elaborate.
The ambassador said that the idea of calling for a cease-fire as a way to end the fighting was "simplistic."
"Any cease-fire is going to have to be accompanied by a qualitative change in the situation," Bolton said. "The simple reflexive action of asking for a cease-fire is not something that is really appropriate in a situation like this, because among other things, you have to know who are the parties" to any cease-fire.
"How do you get a cease-fire with a terrorist organization? I'm not sure anybody's done that before and I'm not sure it's possible," he said.
The United States is also consulting with others in the international community to find ways to help with Lebanon's humanitarian needs, McCormack said.
U.N. Deputy Secretary-General Mark Mallock Brown confirmed that Syria told the United Nations it would not accept Terje Roed-Larsen as part of the Nambiar mission. However, he said, the United Nations "did not have to grapple with what to do about Roed-Larsen" because Annan called the mission back to brief the Security Council.
Roed-Larsen is the secretary-general's special representative on Resolution 1559, passed by the council in September 2004 calling for "the disbanding and disarmament of all Lebanese and non-Lebanese militias."
(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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