UN Security Council calls for halt to violence and end to war in Lebanon and Israel

UN approves Lebanon ceasefire resolution

from http://www.guardian.co.uk/uklatest/story/0,,-6010224,00.html

Press Association
Saturday August 12, 2006 2:18 AM

The United Nations Security Council voted unanimously today to approve a resolution aimed at ending the month-long Lebanon crisis.

The text, finally agreed by diplomats yesterday after days of fraught negotiations in New York, calls for a full cessation of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah followed by the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Lebanon "at the earliest".

It also authorises the deployment of a 15,000-strong UN peacekeeping force with beefed-up powers working together with 15,000 Lebanese troops in the south of the country.

Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert earlier endorsed the ceasefire deal, even though it fell short of some of Israel's demands, which included an even stronger mandate for the UN forces to take on Hezbollah guerillas.

The resolution authorises the UN force, known by its acronym Unifil, to take "all necessary action" to stop the area it patrols from being using for any kind of hostile activities.

But in a significant concession to the Lebanese it will still have a traditional peacekeeping mandate, under Chapter 6 of the UN charter.

A Chapter 7 mandate, which Israel had wanted, allows troops to use military force to enforce peace.

In a statement, Prime Minister Tony Blair said: "It is tragic that so many innocent lives, Lebanese and Israeli, have been lost over the past weeks. We must now take the steps necessary to ensure it is never repeated.

"The passage of the UNSCR [UN security council resolution] is immensely welcome.

"The hostilities on both sides should cease immediately now that the resolution has finally been agreed by the whole of the international community."

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