Lebanon asks UN to demand Israeli withdrawal

UNITED NATIONS, Aug 6 (Reuters) Lebanon asked the UN Security Council today to revise a draft resolution seeking an end to fighting between Israel and Hizbollah guerrillas to include a demand for the withdrawal of Israeli troops.

Lebanese foreign ministry official Nouhad Mahmoud gave the 15 council members an amendment calling for Israel to pull out of southern Lebanon, in addition to an end to hostilities.

Paris and Washington hope their resolution seeking an end to fighting can be adopted within a day or two, but Lebanese officials have said it ignores their appeals for an immediate cease-fire and a full Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon, as called for in Beirut's seven-point peace plan.

''Lebanon, and all of Lebanon, rejects any resolution that is outside these seven points,'' Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, who has been negotiating on behalf of Hizbollah, said in Beirut.

The draft resolution calls for a ''full cessation of hostilities,'' based on ''the immediate cessation by Hizbollah of all attacks and the immediate cessation by Israel of all offensive military operations,'' leaving Israel able to conduct military operations it sees as defensive.

It also asks Israel and Lebanon to approve the major elements of an eventual peace settlement, which would include creating a buffer zone in south Lebanon free of any military forces except Lebanese and UN-mandated troops.

Mahmoud stopped short of saying Lebanon rejected the draft, telling Reuters: ''It is not implementable.'' Junior diplomats from the council's 15 member-nations were meeting today to discuss the text and go over any changes sought by their governments.

ISRAEL SATISFIED WITH DRAFT In Jerusalem, senior government officials and Israeli media said Israel viewed the draft favorably.

The government has not formally commented on it. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told cabinet ministers not to discuss it until the document was finalized, a political source said.

French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said Paris hoped for unanimous support from the council ''as soon as possible.'' He said council members had noted Lebanon's objections.

''We're busy examining all this, know that France is very involved with Lebanon's worries,'' he said. ''For an agreement you need the two sides.'' The resolution would be the first of two the council expects to adopt to deal with the violence that erupted July 12 when Hizbollah guerrillas crossed over into northern Israel and seized two Israeli soldiers. The fighting is still raging and has killed more than 700 Lebanese and 78 Israelis.

The second measure, which council diplomats said yesterday would be expected in about two weeks, would cover plans for a permanent peace agreement and authorize the international force.

But US National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley told reporters in Crawford, Texas, where President George W Bush was vacationing, that the United States wanted a second resolution to be adopted in days rather than weeks, to help speed the deployment of peacekeepers.

Despite negative reactions from Lebanon and Hizbollah, most council members hope the resolution will at least subdue the fighting and allow relief workers to gain access to people left isolated or driven from their homes by the fighting.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said she hoped quick adoption would lead to an early end to large-scale violence.

But she warned there could be ''skirmishes for some time to come'' because ''these things take a while to wind down.'' REUTERS LL RK2240