Annan calls for a halt to escalating conflict

UNITED Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan yesterday called for an immediate halt to the escalating conflict between Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah militia, but said “there are serious obstacles to reaching a ceasefire or even to diminishing the violence quickly”.

Earlier, the UN’s emergency relief co-ordinator, Jan Egeland, warned that one third of all casualties in the Lebanon-Israel conflict have been children.

He said it appeared neither Hezbollah nor the Israelis seemed to care about civilian suffering.