Negotiations Continue on Mideast Resolution, U.S. Says
08 August 2006
U. S. calls Lebanese army proposal "necessary step for peace"
United Nations -- The United States and France, co-sponsors of the Security Council draft resolution intended to end the Israeli-Hezbollah conflict, continue to work on the text and to respond to Lebanese concerns and proposals after meeting with a Lebanese/Arab League delegation.
The draft resolution and Lebanon's counter proposals were also discussed at a public Security Council meeting August 8 by the Arab League delegation, led by Foreign Minister Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabir Al-Thani of Qatar, Lebanese Special Envoy Tarek Mitri, and by Israel’s U.N. ambassador, Dan Gillerman. Their comments will be factored into the final draft resolution, diplomats said.
The United States does not see Lebanon's proposals as a setback to the resolution, White House press secretary Tony Snow said.
"Diplomacy takes time. And you've got a lot of interested parties who have their own view on how to proceed," Snow said. The real challenge is to work forward in a manner consistent with the position of leaders of the 2006 Group of Eight (G8) summit and with the draft resolution presented by the United States and France on August 5.
"Everybody is really still pulling in the same direction," he said. "There are a lot of ideas about how best to get there."
The co-sponsors presented a draft resolution calling for an immediate cessation of hostilities as a first step in ending the conflict and laying out conditions for a long-term political settlement. Under the current draft, a second resolution would be needed to establish and international force to patrol southern Lebanon and set procedures to disarm Hezbollah. (See related article.)
Diplomats said that taking into account the meetings with the Arab League delegation and Security Council rules of procedure that require a 24-hour period for governments to review a final draft, it is unlikely that the council will vote before August 10.
Resolving the different approaches "comes down to timing and sequencing. And that's what's being hammered out up in New York as well as in capitals around the world," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters August 8.
One of the key issues remaining is how to ensure that an Israeli withdrawal from Lebanese territory will not leave a vacuum that will be filled again by Hezbollah. A new element is Lebanese Prime Minister Faud Siniora's proposal to deploy 15,000 Lebanese troops south to patrol a buffer zone along the Blue Line, McCormack said.
McCormack said that the United States considers the Lebanese deployment proposal an important and "a necessary step for peace."
But that deployment must be made in such as way that armed militias are not able to roam Lebanon's southern border, "free to threaten Israel and plunge the region into violence," he added.
In addition, an international force is needed to support the Lebanese army, which at this point is not "a robust enough entity to be able to, on their own, exercise total control of that southern area of Lebanon," McCormack said.
Also under discussion is the timing and character of that international force.
The Arab League, Lebanon, Israel and the United States all share the same goal -- to end the violence, McCormack said.
"Nobody wants to be back in this same situation three weeks, three months or three years from now. We've seen the results of negotiating cease-fires in which you have groups like Hezbollah that are allowed to rearm, build themselves back up, build fortifications and pose a threat to peace and stability in the region," the spokesman said.
Qatari Foreign Minister Al Thani warned the council against adopting a resolution that it could not enforce.
Any resolution, the foreign minister said, must call for a comprehensive cease-fire, withdrawal of Israeli forces, and an expanded mandate for the current U.N. peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon, UNIFIL -- demands already made by Lebanon.
Israeli Ambassador Gillerman urged the council to make sure that its resolution does not create a vacuum for Hezbollah to fill.
"The terrorists are watching," Gillerman said. "If the council adopts concessions and mere declarations we will find ourselves back at this table facing a tragedy of similar or greater proportions."
(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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