Lebanon rejects draft UN truce resolution

Nabih Berri said Lebanon would not accept any terms that did not include a government plan calling for an immediate cease-fire and withdrawal of Israeli troops.

"Lebanon, all of Lebanon, rejects any talks or any draft resolution that does not include the seven-point government framework," Berri said at a news conference in Beirut.

Prime Minister Fuad Saniora first offered the plan, later adopted by his Cabinet, during the Rome crisis summit July 26.

The seven-point proposal calls for a mutual release of prisoners held by Israeli and Hezbollah and the withdrawal of Israeli troops from southern Lebanon. It foresees the Lebanese government taking control of southern Lebanon with the help of an international force.

The US-French proposal, which was expected to go to the floor of the UN Security Council early this week, calls for Hezbollah to stop all military operations and for Israel to stop its offensive drive against Lebanon. The proposal would allow Israel to strike back if Hezbollah were to break a cease-fire.

The draft resolution does not require an immediate Israeli withdrawal to its side of the common border.

"We always spoke about an immediate cease fire. We never spoke about ending military operations because this is in a way like legitimatising the occupation, as if the war is being legitimatised," Berri said in fiery remarks before opening the floor to questions.

Iran, a supporter of Hezbollah, on Sunday dismissed as one-sided a draft UN Security Council resolution calling for an end to fighting in Lebanon between the Shia Muslim guerrillas and Israel.

The draft resolution, sponsored by permanent council members France and the United States, is "incapable of solving the crisis since it is one-sided," Iran's top security official, Ali Larijani, told reporters.