Beckett: EU statement not a 'green light' for Israel

British foreign secretary Margaret Beckett said today’s watered-down EU statement on the conflict in the Middle East does not amount to a “green light” for Israel to continue its military offensive in Lebanon.

“I would be saddened and dismayed if someone would read that into today’s conclusions,” she said after EU ministers adopted a statement calling for an “immediate cessation of hostilities”, instead of the “immediate ceasefire” called for in an earlier draft.