Rome Conference Ends Without Lebanon Cease-Fire Plan
26 July 2006
Leaders call for stabilization force, end to violence, humanitarian aid
Washington – World leaders intent on resolving the conflict in Lebanon ended their meeting in Rome with an agreement on the urgency of formulating a “sustainable” plan to stop the warfare, but without a call for an immediate cease-fire. They also pledged to provide humanitarian relief to the victims of the hostilities between Israel and Hizballah.
“The Rome conference participants expressed their determination to work immediately to reach, with the utmost urgency, a cease-fire that put an end to the current violence and hostilities. The cease-fire must be lasting, permanent and sustainable,” Italian foreign minister Massimo D’Alema told journalists in Rome July 26, as he presented the statement framed by conference participants. The conference was organized and hosted by the Italian government.
D’Alema said there was broad support for a meeting of partner countries to discuss an international stabilization force to assist the Lebanese government. D’Alema also said participating countries have pledged to work “in partnership with the international community to provide immediate humanitarian relief to the people of Lebanon,” and expressed “their deep concern for civilian casualties and suffering.” The group called on Israel to exercise “utmost restraint.”
At the same press conference, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice echoed his words. “We are all agreed that we want most urgently to end the violence on a basis that this time will be sustainable.” She said the region has had “too many broken cease-fires, too many spasms of violence.”
Rice reiterated the U.S. commitment to humanitarian assistance, commenting on the “impassioned” appeal of Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora.
Siniora, also at the press conference, said “the country is being cut to pieces.” Saying he had hoped for an immediate cease-fire, he acknowledged that progress had been made “in terms of really handling all the issues.” He said, “[W]e have to work together in order to arrive at a cease-fire that can really protect Lebanon.”
D’Alema said “a framework of international decisions” exists in U.N. Security Council Resolution 435 and Resolution 1559, the Taif Accords, the 1949 armistice agreement and the Group of Eight (G8) statement of July 16, all of which provide for the sovereignty of the Lebanese government.
“[T]he people of Lebanon deserve a stable, democratic, fully sovereign Lebanon at peace with itself and at peace with its neighbors,” Rice added.
She said that the group at the Rome meeting agreed that “there should be an international force under a U.N. mandate that will have a strong and robust capability to help bring about peace.” She noted that the participation of Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Egypt in the conference ensured regional participation in the effort.
Syria was absent but not forgotten at the conference, where its role in backing Hizballah was discussed, along with Syria’s obligations to support the government of Lebanon gain control of the country under Resolution 1559. “[I]t’s not a question of talking to Syria; it’s a question of whether Syria is prepared to act,” Rice said.
At his press briefing in Washington, White House press secretary Tony Snow said the Rome statement demonstrated “a pretty united voice” in support of setting up conditions for an “endurable” cease-fire.
He also placed responsibility for the crisis on Hizballah. “Hizballah has to make the decision,” he said. “Does it want to take a military path or does it want to take a political path? … If they choose the terror path, you have to find ways to make them cease and desist.”
Tom Casey, a State Department spokesman, told reporters at his July 26 briefing that Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs David Welch and the National Security Council’s Elliot Abrams would remain in the region to work on distribution of humanitarian aid and to work “with the international community on how we can best support Lebanon to take full sovereignty over the country and to be able to deploy its armed forces to the south.”
A transcript of the press conference in Rome is available on the State Department Web site.
(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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