US, France close to ME truce deal

Smoke billows following Israeli bombardment on the southern suburbs of Beirut yesterday. Israeli warplanes carried out 14 raids on the near-deserted southern suburbs of Beirut killing 11 more civilians. PHOTO: AFP

Throughout Thursday, negotiators believed they had achieved a breakthrough. But the deal came apart when Beirut rejected deployment of additional UN troops under Chapter 7 of the UN Charter, which allows for the use of force rather than just self-defence.

US Ambassador John Bolton and French Ambassador Jean-Marc de la Sabliere worked late into the evening to change some wording in their UN Security Council draft that would be sent to Lebanon and Israel for their approval overnight.

Meanwhile, Russia, impatient at the non-stop negotiations, introduced a council resolution calling for a 72-hour truce so humanitarian supplies could reach civilians suffering from the five-week war between Hezbollah militia and Israel.

More than 1,000 Lebanese and 121 Israelis have been killed in the five-week-old war.

"War is raging in Lebanon and the humanitarian situation is getting catastrophic," Churkin told reporters.

If the US-French resolution were adopted, he said, he would withdraw his measure.

However, Bolton said of the Russian text, "I don't think it is helpful to divert attention. We are seeking to get a permanent and sustainable solution with the approach that we and the French have been taking."

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice planned to be in New York on Friday in anticipation of a vote, as was British Foreign Minister Margaret Beckett.

Bolton said he had not yet given up "on the prospect that we might yet vote" on Friday. But the resolution has not yet been formally introduced to the 15-nation Security Council, prompting some diplomats to predict a Saturday vote because members often send a draft to governments before adoption.

The text calls for a "cessation of hostilities," but negotiations repeatedly stalled on the question of how and when Israeli troops would withdraw from southern Lebanon.

The Beirut government had rejected an international force not under UN control while Israel, which has delayed plans to deploy more troops in Lebanon, insisted on a strong multinational force before it would withdraw.