France and US advancing towards Lebanon resolution
French and American diplomats were getting closer to a common UN resolution for stopping the fighting in Lebanon, France’s foreign minister said today, but emphasised there was still progress to be made.
“We are working well with the Americans, working night and day,” Philippe Douste-Blazy told France-Inter radio.
“We are advancing toward a common resolution, but we’re not yet there. There is still work to do,” he said.
Together, the countries are working on two resolutions, one to stop the fighting and lay out political principles for a ceasefire and settlement and another on the international force, border security and other long-term issues.
The United States, Israel’s closest ally, opposes a cessation of hostilities without simultaneous steps to deploy peacekeepers and tackle Hezbollah’s disarmament.
France, which has led efforts for a diplomatic solution and could lead a new multinational force in southern Lebanon, has insisted that fighting be halted first, to pave the way for a wider peace.
France also believes a political agreement is “an essential precondition to sending an international force to Lebanon”, President Jacques Chirac told Sweden’s Prime Minister Goran Persson during a phone conversation, according to Chirac’s office.
Chirac also insisted that any political accord should include all parties and be approved by the United Nations.
Israel’s Prime Minister Ehud Olmert called differences between the American and French positions “surmountable”, adding that he hoped an agreement on an international force would be forthcoming.
“Neither President (Jacques) Chirac, nor Prime Minister (Dominique) de Villepin nor Foreign Minister Douste-Blazy want Hezbollah to come out of this crisis in a winning position,” Olmert was quoted as saying in an interview in the French daily Le Monde.
Douste-Blazy stressed that France’s goal is not “a rapid international force”, but a “rapid political accord”.
“We must not go down the Iraqi path again,” he warned.
France refused to participate in a meeting today of nations that could send troops to south Lebanon, saying the meeting is premature without a political settlement and an agreement on the force’s mandate. As a result, the meeting at the UN in New York was postponed for the second time.
Douste-Blazy, who returned earlier this week from his third trip to Lebanon since fighting started on July 12, called the humanitarian situation “disastrous” and announced that France would send a ship with food, medicine and other aid to the country next week.
French Health Minister Xavier Bertrand was in Beirut to meet Prime Minister Fuad Saniora, Health Minister Jawad Khalifeh and aid workers. A French plane carrying several tonnes of equipment and medication was also heading to Beirut today.
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