Rice Sees Lebanese Statement a Positive Step
29 July 2006
U.S. Secretary of State to meet with Israeli and Lebanese officials
Washington – U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says the Lebanese cease-fire plan announced on the evening of July 28 after a six-hour meeting of the Lebanese cabinet is “most certainly a positive step.” Speaking with journalists en route to Jerusalem, Rice said she has not seen the full statement, but from press reports “it looks like there are some very good elements.”
The Lebanese plan calls for immediate cease-fire and an exchange of prisoners. According to reports, Hizballah, which participates in the Lebanese government, did not specifically agree do disarm and objects to the presence of “a robust force” of international peacekeepers, but the proposal calls for the implementation of the Taif accords, which ended the Lebanese civil war in 1990 and include disarming of all militias.
Speaking about her second trip to the Middle East since the outbreak of the recent hostilities, Rice said she expects “fairly intense” negotiations with the Israelis and the Lebanese, and that a settlement would involve “a fair amount of give and take” on both sides. But she praised Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora for taking initiative.
“It is for, I think, Prime Minister Siniora quite an achievement to have gotten his cabinet of ministers to essentially endorse his Rome speech, which, if you remember, both talked about [Security Council Resolution] 1559 and Taif, which includes the disarmament of militias, and an acknowledgement that an international force will need to be a part of the solution,” Rice said.
She said the Lebanese statement “shows a Lebanese government that’s functioning as a Lebanese government. That is, in and of itself, extremely important. This has not been easy for Prime Minister Siniora. Everybody knows it’s a very complicated coalition, but that he is able to go back and bring his government together around a way forward is very encouraging.”
Rice said she has reasons to believe that “the leadership on both sides of this crisis would like it to end,” and may want to look for a solution that “puts Lebanon, the Lebanese government in full control of its territory with the Lebanese army able to deploy south, with the south stable, with an international force that can help that to take place.” She also reiterated the U.S. position that “there cannot be a return to the status quo ante” in southern Lebanon and called for the return of Israeli soldiers captured by Hizballah.
The United States, with British support, seeks a Security Council resolution that would create a framework for the deployment of a multinational force in southern Lebanon. President Bush said during a joint press opportunity with British Prime Minister Tony Blair: “Prime Minister Blair and I agree that this approach gives the best hope to end the violence and create lasting peace and stability in Lebanon. This approach will demonstrate the international community's determination to support the government of Lebanon, and defeat the threat from Hizballah and its foreign sponsors.” (See related article.)
In his Saturday radio address the President said that “An effective multinational force will help speed delivery of humanitarian relief, facilitate the return of displaced persons, and support the Lebanese government as it asserts full sovereignty over its territory and guards its borders.” (See related article.)
Rice said she is not setting any deadline for the U.N. action, but “since we want an early end to the violence, it’s increasingly important that we get agreement on the elements.”
On Monday, July 31, the U.N. Security Council will discuss possible troop contribution to the force. The secretary mentioned that some forces could be deployed quite quickly, while “for a full scale, blue-helmeted force, it takes some time.”
Rice returns to the Middle East after a visit to East Asia. (See related article.)
For the full transcript of Secretary Rice’s briefing, visit 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)
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
