France and US closing in on Lebanon ceasefire resolution

FRENCH and American diplomats last night said they were getting closer to a common UN resolution for stopping the fighting in Lebanon.

But France’s foreign minister 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.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair also held out the prospect of a UN resolution on a Lebanon ceasefire “within days”.

Mr Blair insisted that his refusal — along with US President George W Bush — to join international calls for an immediate ceasefire did not mean he was “indifferent” to the plight of the Lebanese people.

However, he said that such statements achieved little unless they were backed by a firm plan of action.

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 US, Israel’s closest ally, opposes a cessation of hostilities without simultaneous steps to deploy peacekeepers and tackle Hezbollah’s disarmament.

But 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.

The president also insisted that any political accord should include all parties and be approved by the UN.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert called divergences between the American and French positions “surmountable”, adding he hoped an agreement on an international force would be forthcoming.

“Neither President Chirac, nor Prime Minister de Villepin nor Foreign Minister Douste-Blazy want Hezbollah to come out of this crisis in a winning position,” Mr Olmert told Le Monde.

Mr Douste-Blazy stressed that France’s goal is not “a rapid international force”, but a “rapid political accord”.