World outrage after Israeli attack on village

Paris, July 30: Politicians from around the world today condemned an Israeli attack on a village in southern Lebanon that killed at least 40 civilians including 23 children in the bloodiest single attack in 19-days of fighting.

France, Jordan, and the European Union said the attack underscored the need for an immediate ceasefire in fighting between Israel and guerrilla group Hizbollah in Lebanon.

But in a sign of division among the international community about how to solve the crisis the United States stopped short of calling for immediate end to fighting.

''France condemns this unjustified action which demonstrates more than ever the need for an immediate ceasefire without which there will only be other such incidents,'' French President Jacques Chirac's office said in a statement.

Jordan's King Abdullah, the first Arab leader to react to the Israeli airstrike, said it was an ''ugly crime'' that was a ''gross violation of all international statutes''.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert defended the decision to bomb Qana in southern Lebanon, saying the area was a source for rocket launches towards Israel and that it had warned all residents to leave.

Lebanon says 750 people have been killed since the fighting started. Fifty-one Israelis have also died.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said she was deeply saddened by the bombing and cancelled a trip to Beirut to stay in Israel to try and work out a deal to end the conflict.

''I think it is time to get a ceasefire ... We actually have to try and put one in place,'' she told reporters in Jerusalem.

The United States is facing increasing criticism across the world for refusing to call for an immediate ceasefire and for giving Israel an apparent green light to press ahead with its attacks on Lebanon.

Deep Divisions

Israel and the United States have said they want to ensure that Hizbollah can no longer carry out raids and rocket attacks and that it is eventually disarmed under a UN resolution. French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said France was in agreement with the United States on the objective of a UN resolution that would say it is up to the Lebanese government to disarm Hizbollah.

But he said there were ''deep divisions'' between the two countries, which famously fell out over the US invasion of Iraq, over how to achieve that objective.

France has drawn up a draft UN Security Council resolution that would call for an immediate ceasefire and prepare for the deployment of an international force.

Lebanon wants foreign troops to help its army take control of the south. UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan will preside over a meeting of possible troop contributors to such a force in New York tomorrow.

France has emerged as the likely leader of international troops but has insisted there should be no deployment until there is a ceasefire accompanied by a political agreement.

British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett said the international community had to see if it could pick up the pieces after the bombing and agree on a UN resolution, that had been ''on track to being successful by tomorrow or day after.'' The conflict was triggered by Hizbollah's abduction of two Israeli soldiers in a raid out of south Lebanon on July 12.

The United States also blames Hizbollah allies, Syria and Iran for the conflict. France wants Iran to participate in talks about finding a solution.

UNI

Related Stories