Arab leaders critical of proposed UN resolution

from www.BangkokPost.COM

New York (dpa) - Dissatisfied with current diplomatic efforts in New York to end deadly fighting in Lebanon, envoys from the Arab League plan to demand on Tuesday that the UN Security Council call for an immediate ceasefire.

A three-member delegation from the league was to take part in an open debate with the 15-nation council at 3 pm (1900 GMT) at UN headquarters to press also for other demands, the full extent of which had not been revealed.

The debate comes a day after the Lebanese cabinet agreed to send 15,000 Lebanese troops to southern Lebanon once Israeli troops withdraw from Lebanese territory. Information Minister Ghazi Aridi told reporters that the army would be "the only force in southern Lebanon."

Israel has for years demanded that the Lebanese government disarm the Iranian-backed Hezbollah guerrilla militia that now controls southern Lebanon.

Hezbollah, in open conflict with Israel since July 12, has accepted the Lebanese cabinet's decision to secure the border with Israel, sources close to the movement said.

A spokesman for the Israeli foreign ministry, Mark Regev, told Cable News Network that it was "difficult for me to believe as an Israeli that Hezbollah is going to voluntarily disarm."

The Arab League's representative in New York, Ambassador Yahya Mahmassani, criticized a UN draft resolution agreed upon by France and United States as "discriminatory in tone."

"We don't accept it," Mahmassani said, following a meeting of Arab foreign ministers in Beirut, who decided to send the delegation to New York immediately to try to amend the draft, which they considered supporting Israel more than the wish of the Lebanese government. Beirut had been calling for the withdrawal of the 10,000 soldiers of the Israeli Defence Forces from Lebanon.

Mahmassani said that the draft should demand a ceasefire, UN control over the disputed Shebaa farms and the simultaneous release of captured Israeli and Hezbollah soldiers.

"We are back to square one," Mahmassani said.

The three-member delegation includes high-ranking foreign ministry officials from Qatar and the United Arab Emirates and the league's Secretary-General Amr Moussa.

Faced with strong objections from Arab governments, the UN council decided to hold the public debate on Tuesday to allow the Arabs to air their demands. But there was no certainty that the demands would be accepted.

US Ambassador John Bolton, who spent lengthy negotiating rounds with French Ambassador Jean-Marc de la Sabliere before they reached agreement on the draft resolution on Saturday, warned that the council cannot satisfy every demand.

"It's not as though we drafted this resolution in a closet somewhere and suddenly sprang on any governments," Bolton said. "We, the US and France, were in close contact with the governments of Lebanon and Israel throughout this entire process of negotiations."

Bolton said Washington and Paris had been in touch with Beirut and Jerusalem several times while diplomats worked on the draft in New York.

"The effort has to be not to achieve a perfect agreement, or completely satisfy everyone (because) it's not possible at this present juncture, but to take the concrete steps we need to get on the road for a lasting solution," Bolton told reporters.

Bolton said the council will listen to views from both sides, but is determined to move on with the adoption of the draft once it is finished. De la Sabliere also concurred.

"We will listen to views here (in New York), we will hear the views of the Arab League (Tuesday) and we will work to achieve our objectives," de la Sabliere said.

"The draft remains the core of all discussions, inside and outside the UN Security Council," de la Sabliere said, referring to work at the UN as well as a meeting of the Arab League and Arab foreign ministers in Beirut.

De la Sabliere said that Beirut's request for the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Lebanon, including the disputed Shebaa farms, was taken into consideration.

"We have to listen to what's happening (in Lebanon), and we'll continue to work to improve the text, taking into consideration the concerns by all," he said.

"We want a resolution that can bring peace and not create domestic problems (in Lebanon)," said Qatar Ambassador Nasser al-Nasser, the only Arab representative in the council. He said the three-member Arab delegation will present amendments to the current draft.

The UN said Monday the fighting has so far killed 958 people and injured 3,369 others in Lebanon. In addition close to 1 million people have been displaced by the war between the Israeli Defence Forces and the Iranian-backed Lebanese Shiite militia Hezbollah, including 700,000 inside Lebanon.

De la Sabliere said that the draft resolution "remains a good one" because it addresses the urgent needs to end the nearly four-week conflict and ease the plight of civilians.

The draft agreed upon by France and the United States calls for a "full cessation of hostilities, in particular, the immediate cessation by Hezbollah of all attacks and the immediate cessation by Israel of all offensive military operations."

It calls on Israel and Lebanon to support a permanent ceasefire and long-term solution based on respect of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of both Israel and Lebanon, the demarcation of Lebanon's international borders, security arrangements to prevent the resumption of fighting and the disarmament of "all armed groups" in Lebanon. The draft text states that there will be "no weapons or authority in Lebanon other than that of the Lebanese state."

The draft calls for establishment of an international arms embargo and the "elimination of foreign forces in Lebanon without the consent of the (Lebanese) government."