Rice says wants vote soon on UN resolution

CRAWFORD, Texas, Aug 6 (Reuters) US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said today it is important to get a vote on a UN resolution in the next day or two to clear the way for a halt to large-scale violence in southern Lebanon.

UN Security Council envoys are attempting to put the finishing touches on a draft resolution from France and the United States calling for a halt to fighting between Israel and Hizbollah guerrillas and setting terms for a settlement to the conflict.

If that resolution can be quickly voted on, Rice told reporters, ''I would hope that you would see very early on an end to large-scale violence.'' But that does not necessarily mean an end to all violence in the short run because ''these things take a while to wind down,'' said Rice. She could not rule out ''skirmishes for some time to come.'' She said it is important to get a vote ''in the next day or two'' on the resolution and urged other UN states to support it, calling it a first step toward stopping the conflict but not the only step.

Lebanon is unhappy with the draft resolution, which the UN Security Council is expected to vote tomorrow or Tuesday, partly because it lacks a call for the withdrawal from Lebanon of Israeli forces. Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri said today that Lebanon rejected the resolution as biased.

REUTERS AB BST1908