UN ceasefire resolution 'within days'

After a day of intense negotiations, the US and France have “come a long way” in negotiating a UN Security Council resolution that calls for an immediate cessation of hostilities, US Ambassador John Bolton said, as diplomats promised a deal on a resolution in days.

In Washington, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice expressed support yesterday for an immediate cease-fire in Lebanon as the first phase in ending the conflict. It was the most concrete signal yet that the US may be willing to compromise on the stalemate over how to end the fighting.