Lebanon 'should reject' UN resolution
Mr Berri objects to Israeli soldiers remaining on Lebanese soil
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Sunday, 06, Aug 2006 07:41
The Lebanese parliament's speaker, Nabih Berri, has said that his country should reject the draft resolution currently being prepared by the UN security council.
Mr Berri, speaking in a press conference earlier today, argued that the terms of the resolution currently being discussed in New York are unacceptable because it does insist upon the removal of Israeli troops from Lebanese soil.
Instead the resolution insists that an "immediate cessation" of hostilities would be policed by an international peacekeeping force "based upon in particular the immediate cessation by Hizbullah of all attacks and the immediate cessation by Israel of all offensive operations".
"I hope the UN will take another look at the draft and consider carefully the interests of the Lebanese people," Mr Berri told reporters. "Lebanon, all of Lebanon, rejects this proposal."
Mr Berri is seen by many as a political bridge between the militant guerrilla group Hizbullah, responsible for the current fighting with Israel, and the Lebanese government who insists it has nothing to do with the attacks.
Such claims have been rejected by Israel. But it is generally accepted by international observers that the Lebanese government of Fouad Siniora is too weak to force Hizbullah into a ceasefire, given the weak nature of its coalition and growing popular support for Hizbullah among the suffering Lebanese population.
Mr Berri's arguments seem to have failed to impress US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice, who, speaking from US President George Bush's ranch in Crawford, Texas, indicated that any rejection of the resolution would be unacceptable.
"What we need to focus on is that when this security council resolution is passed we will know who really did want to stop violence and who didn't," Ms Rice said.
"Now we're going to see who's for peace and who isn't," she added.