The United States dug in its heels yesterday against UN calls for a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon, saying that such a measure made little sense between a state and a "terrorist group" like Hizbullah.
Speaking hours after France proposed that the UN Security Council consider a resolution calling for a lasting ceasefire, US ambassador John Bolton said that the council should focus on disarming the Hizbullah militia and extending Lebanese government control over the entire country.
"It is very hard to understand from the people calling for a ceasefire how you have a ceasefire with a terrorist organisation like Hizbullah," Mr Bolton told reporters.
"I am not sure that conventional thinking about a ceasefire makes any sense when you are dealing with a terrorist group that fires rockets at civilian populations and kidnaps innocent Israelis," he said.
France, in a paper circulated to council members late on Tuesday, suggested a security council resolution which would call for a lasting ceasefire, the release of abducted Israeli soldiers and the possibility of a peacekeeping force.
But a senior western security council envoy, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that France was pushing for a ceasefire first while the US wanted to focus on dealing with Hizbullah and the release of the Israeli soldiers it captured.
UN spokesman Farhan Haq reiterated in New York that secretary-general Kofi Annan had consistently said there was "an urgent need" for an immediate cessation of hostilities.
French UN ambassador Jean-Marc de la Sabliere said it was time for the council to act. "We have to call for a sustainable ceasefire and emphasise the need to address the immediate and underlying causes of the current crisis," he told reporters, calling his paper "food for thought" to stimulate action by the council.
Mr Bolton said that the US was awaiting a briefing today by Mr Annan on a mission he sent to the Middle East before deciding on the appropriate next steps.
"I do think, as we come to the end of the week, we will be looking at steps the security council might take," he said.
The UN and western nations have proposed an international force as part of a ceasefire agreement, larger and better armed than the current UN Interim Force in Lebanon (Unifil) .
Among the options, diplomats said, was replacing Unifil with a new UN force and deploying an outside multinational force which would be endorsed by the security council.
Thorny issues include whether the new force would have a mandate to disarm Hizbullah and whether it would operate on its own or deploy alongside the Lebanese army.