France wants UN meeting on Lebanon next week

PARIS, July 27: France wants UN Security Council foreign ministers to meet early next week to work on a ceasefire resolution for Lebanon, Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said today.

Douste-Blazy told French radio he was disappointed that a conference in Rome yesterday failed to call for an immediate end to hostilities in Lebanon and said the onus was now on the United Nations to work swiftly on a resolution.

''France has presented a plan, the outlines of a UN Security Council resolution. We have asked for a meeting of the Security Council, which I hope will be at a ministerial level ... on July 31 or August. 1,'' Douste-Blazy told France Inter.

France holds the rotating presidency of the council this month.

He said the French resolution called for the disarmament of Hizbollah, the unconditional release of two Israeli soldiers captured earlier this month near the Lebanese border and the creation of a security buffer zone in south Lebanon.

He said France was also pushing for the release of Lebanese prisoners detained in Israel, the deployment of Lebanese soldiers to the south of their country and guarantees that Lebanese sovereignty would be respected.

Douste-Blazy added that a multinational peacekeeping force, working under a UN mandate, could only be sent to the border area if there was a lasting ceasefire.

REUTERS