UN: The United Nations Security Council is struggling to agree a response to the conflict in the Middle East as UN secretary general Kofi Annan appealed yesterday for European support for a UN force in Lebanon.
US ambassador to the UN John Bolton said a ceasefire would be premature before Hizbullah and Hamas released captured Israeli soldiers.
"I think that the question of the legitimate exercise of self-defence, which the government of Israel is seen engaged in, is something that has to be considered very clearly.
"I think you would have a ceasefire in a matter of nanoseconds if Hizbullah and Hamas would release the kidnapped victims and stop engaging in rocket attacks and other acts of terrorism against Israel," he said.
The security council will hear a report tomorrow from a UN group that has visited Lebanon in an effort to put together a package of measures aimed at calming the conflict.
The head of the UN delegation in Lebanon, Vijay Nambier, said yesterday that more diplomacy is needed to come up with a solution to the conflict.
He said that the Lebanese government must play a role in restoring peace and determining the shape of a resolution to the conflict.
"We have made many efforts to improve the situation, and our teams have discussed these issues with the Lebanese government, and we will continue to discuss these suggestions and ideas, and we will come back to Lebanon to develop and explore these ideas further," said Mr Nambier.
"And, of course, we should spend more diplomatic work to reach a final solution, and the parties should know that the consequences of failure are great, and time is critical, and there should be creative solutions to end these crises," he added.
In Brussels yesterday, Mr Annan urged European governments to participate in a proposed UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon that would supplement the 2,000 United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (Unifil) soldiers already deployed there.
"It is urgent that the international community acts to make a difference on the ground," Mr Annan said.
He said after a meeting with European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso the proposed force would have to be more effective than Unifil, which has been unable to keep peace on the Israeli-Lebanese border.
"The force will be larger, the way I see it, much larger than the 2,000-man force we have there. I would expect a force that will have a modified and different concept of operation and with different capabilities.
"I would expect contributions from European countries and countries from other regions," he stated.
Mr Annan said he would present proposals to the Security Council once a UN mission reported back after returning to Lebanon and visiting Syria.
He suggested that the Lebanese government, rather than the proposed force, would eventually disarm Hizbullah, in accordance with an earlier Security Council resolution.