MIDDLE EAST CRISIS: The United States and France were narrowing their differences yesterday over a UN resolution to end the conflict in Lebanon, with diplomats cautiously hoping a tentative deal would emerge in the very near future.
French foreign minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said in Paris that he expected an agreement soon. "Things are moving in New York today. I hope they move even more quickly and in the hours to come," he told reporters.
"We expect, from one moment to the next, an accord in New York."
However, US ambassador John Bolton was more guarded. "It is entirely possible we could have a vote tomorrow," he said yesterday. "But I wouldn't put odds on it." The text has not been distributed yet to the 15-member council which usually studies it for 24 hours before a vote.
Israel's security cabinet yesterday put off the expanded ground operation to see if a diplomatic deal could be reached.
The key obstacle was to agree on a timetable for Israel's withdrawal from a narrow strip of southern Lebanon.
France, backing Lebanon, wants Israel to begin withdrawing 10,000 troops as soon as the Lebanese army and a beefed up UN peacekeeping force deploys in south Lebanon, now controlled by Hizbullah.
The US, which supported Israel's position, had argued that Israel could keep troops in Lebanon until the arrival of a larger and better-armed international force, which France may lead.
The compromise, according to sources in Beirut, is that the UN peacekeepers, known as Unifil, would be reinforced by French troops before an international force is on the ground.
As part of the deal, Hizbullah would pull out from south of the Litani river, 20km from the Israeli border.
US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice is expected to come to the Security Council for a vote as is British foreign minister Margaret Beckett, who broke her holiday in France and is en route to New York, diplomats said.