Chirac in appeal to US over UN resolution

French President Jacques Chirac today appealed to the United States to speed up its response to Arab nations’ demands for changes to a UN resolution on ending the Middle East crisis.

Caught between American and Arab allies and keen to rescue the diplomatic effort, the French president said that giving up the push for an immediate Middle East ceasefire would be the “most immoral” response.

Chirac interrupted his holiday in southern France to attend an urgent meeting on Lebanon with three cabinet ministers. The French-US diplomatic deadlock comes as Israel considers expanding its offensive.

“The most immoral of solutions would be to accept the current situation and give up on an immediate ceasefire,” Chirac said at a news conference.

Chirac said a joint US-French draft UN Security Council resolution on ending the conflict should take into account Lebanese and Arab demands for changes, but did not specify which ones.

The emergency meeting in Toulon, near Chirac’s holiday spot, came as diplomatic efforts to end the violence have been faltering.

Paris, which has historic ties to Lebanon and the Arab world and could lead a proposed multi-national peacekeeping force to back up a ceasefire, has sought to soothe Lebanese and Arab concerns about the draft resolution.

The United States and France appear to be at odds over how to respond to Lebanese and Arab demands for changes.

Both countries welcomed Lebanon’s announcement on Monday that it will deploy 15,000 soldiers to southern Lebanon when Israel withdraws from the Hezbollah stronghold.

France, however, has proposed new language on a total ceasefire and Israeli pullout that has apparently been a sticking point.

French officials believe that before a proposed international force deploys in the Hezbollah strongholds of southern Lebanon, there should be an intermediate step reinforcing the existing UN peacekeeping mission so it could better back up the Lebanese troops.

However, the United States has rejected France’s proposal out of concern that without a brand new, more robust force in place, a vacuum would be created in Hezbollah territory.

Chirac said the Americans “apparently have reservations” about France’s proposed changes to the draft. He also said that French and US officials are in contact daily on how to resolve the conflict.

“That doesn’t mean that we agree on everything,” he said. “But we are in permanent contact.”

The French president provided no details of his talks today with Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin, Defence Minister Michele Alliot-Marie and Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy. He has been staying in nearby Fort de Bregancon since last week.

Douste-Blazy has visited the Lebanese capital of Beirut three times since fighting broke out on July 12 and has been active in France’s push to reach a diplomatic solution.

De Villepin was the first foreign dignitary to travel to Beirut after the latest fighting broke out, and Alliot-Marie has spoken out about France’s possible role in the proposed multinational force for Lebanon.