US urges restraint, but not cease-fire after Qana

Washington, July 31: The United States urged Israel today to take more care to avoid civilian casualties in Lebanon after an air strike killed at least 60 people, but still resisted calls for an immediate cease-fire.

''Today's actions in the West Asia remind us that the United States and friends and allies must work for a sustainable peace, particularly for the sake of children,'' President George W Bush said.

His remarks, made before a children's baseball game at the White House, were his first direct comments on the attack on the southern Lebanese village of Qana. At least 37 of the victims were children.

Bush said he had spoken twice today with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and once with British Prime Minister Tony Blair, and added that Washington was determined to work with the UN Security Council to craft a resolution for lasting West Asia peace, ''a peace that will enable mothers and fathers to raise their children in a hopeful world.'' Bush is under pressure from Arab and European allies to call for an immediate cease-fire. Despite today's events, he insists on a UN resolution that aims to end Hizbollah's military control of southern Lebanon, officials said.

White House spokesman Tony Snow told reporters earlier today that ''Israel does have a right to defend itself,'' but said it should show restraint and remember that in the end it will need to have positive relations with Lebanon and work for a two-state solution for the Palestinians.

Bush was informed of the Qana attack at 6:40 am (local time) by national security adviser Stephen Hadley and discussed it on the telephone with Rice and Hadley.

Snow said Bush wanted to push ahead this week toward a UN Security Council resolution that would set conditions for a cease-fire and establish a multinational force.

Condemn Attacks

The Security Council met in emergency session today with UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan urging the body to condemn the Qana attack and call for an immediate end to hostilities.

Despite growing calls around the world for an immediate cease-fire, the United States has insisted for days that hostilities should only be halted on a basis that will last.

It backs Israeli demands for the Lebanese army, bolstered by an international force, to deploy to the south of the country controlled by Hizbollah, which has used the territory to rain rockets down on towns in northern Israel.

Qana became a symbol of Lebanese civilian deaths in April 1996, when Israeli shelling killed more than 100 civilians sheltering at the base of UN peacekeepers in Qana during Israel's ''Grapes of Wrath'' bombing campaign. President Bill Clinton called then for a cease-fire.

International outrage over that attack helped force Israel to end its 17-day campaign that killed more than 200 Lebanese.

Images of destruction and mass civilian casualties in Lebanon are fueling anti-American fury throughout the entire Arab world and may force Israel to end its offensive sooner than it would like, without achieving its strategic goal of inflicting massive damage on Hizbollah.

Bush has insisted that a cease-fire package must include steps to compel Hizbollah to stop attacking Israel while putting pressure on Syria and Iran to stop arming Hizbollah with rockets and other weapons.

Reuters

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