LCCC ENGLISH NEWS BULLETIN
August 6/2006

Latest New from miscellaneous sources for August 6/2006
Herzog: UN draft 'important development,' but offensive will go on-Ha'aretz 
Warfare intensifies in southern Lebanon-AP
 U.N. draft breaks France-U.S. impasse-AP
Egyptian militant group joins al-Qaida-AP
Welch Met Berri and Siniora to discuss UN resolution-Ya Libnan - Beirut,Lebanon
Israel, Hezbollah Exchange Fire as US, France Plan Cease-Fire-Bloomberg - USA
France and US Agree on UN Resolution on Lebanon-Bloomberg - USA
Syria buries 26 killed in Israeli raid on Lebanon-Reuters
Soldier killed in fighting in southern Lebanon; 7 Hezbollah men-Ha'aretz 
Egyptian group 'joins' al-Qaeda-BBC News

Latest New from miscellaneous sources for August 6/2006
US, France agree UN Lebanon text-BBC News 
Middle East peace deal agreed-Guardian Unlimited 
Harper wants "durable and lasting peace" in Middle East-National Post, Canada
France Offers New Resolution for Mideast Crisis Zaman Online
Israelis raid Lebanon, US official holds talks-Reuters
Soldier, officer killed in Lebanon overnight-Jerusalem Post
Israelis raid near Tyre in Lebanon-The Age
Airstrikes Hit Christian Area North of Beirut-Los Angeles Times
US official attacks Iran, Syria on Lebanon crisis-People's Daily Online
Former safe havens in Beirut under attack-Newsweek - USA
Israel's bombs cut off Beirut-CNN - USA
Who Will Disarm Hizballah? Not the Lebanese Army-TIME - USA
Israel Warplanes Destroy Lebanon Bridges-ABC News - USA
Christian village in south Lebanon is caught in the crossfire-San Jose Mercury News - CA, USA
Olmert: I hope Germany sends peacekeepers to South Lebanon-Ha'aretz
Two Israeli soldiers killed in south Lebanon-People's Daily Online
Israel expands bombing; 8 killed in Hizbollah rocket attack-Hindu
Why a Multinational Force is Essential in Lebanon-Washington Institute for Near East Policy

Draft of UNSC Resolution
Projet de résolution du Conseil de Sécurité
The Security Council,
PP1. Recalling all its previous resolutions on Lebanon, in particular resolutions 425 (1978), 426 (1978), 520 (1982), 1559 (2004) , 1655 (2006) and 1680 (2006) , as well as the statements of its President on the situation in Lebanon, in particular the statements of 18 June 2000 (S/PRST/2000/21), of 19 October 2004 (S/PRST/2004/36), of 4 May 2005 (S/PRST/2005/17) of 23 January 2006 (S/PRST/2006/3) and of 30 July 2006 (S/PRST/2006/35),
PP2. Expressing its utmost concern at the continuing escalation of hostilities in Lebanon and in Israel since Hizbollah’s attack on Israel on 12 July 2006, which has already caused hundreds of deaths and injuries on both sides, extensive damage to civilian infrastructure and hundreds of thousands of internally displaced persons,
PP3. Emphasizing the need for an end of violence, but at the same time emphasizing the need to address urgently the causes that have given rise to the current crisis, including by the unconditional release of the abducted Israeli soldiers,
PP4: Mindful of the sensitivity of the issue of prisoners and encouraging the efforts aimed at settling the issue of the Lebanese prisoners detained in Israel,
OP1. Calls for a full cessation of hostilities based upon, in particular, the immediate cessation by Hizbollah of all attacks and the immediate cessation by Israel of all offensive military operations;
OP2. Reiterates its strong support for full respect for the Blue Line;
OP3. Also reiterates its strong support for the territorial integrity, sovereignty and political independence of Lebanon within its internationally recognized borders, as contemplated by the Israeli-Lebanese General Armistice Agreement of 23 March 1949;
OP4. Calls on the international community to take immediate steps to extend its financial and humanitarian assistance to the Lebanese people, including through facilitating the safe return of displaced persons and, under the authority of the Government of Lebanon, reopening airports and harbors for verifiably and purely civilian purposes, and calls on it also to consider further assistance in the future to contribute to the reconstruction and development of Lebanon;
OP5. Emphasizes the importance of the extension of the control of the Government of Lebanon over all Lebanese territory in accordance with the provisions of resolution 1559 (2004) and resolution 1680 (2006), and of the relevant provisions of the Taif Accords, for it to exercise its full sovereignty and authority;
OP6. Calls for Israel and Lebanon to support a permanent ceasefire and a long-term solution based on the following principles and elements:
- strict respect by all parties for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Israel and Lebanon;
- full respect for the Blue Line by both parties;
- delineation of the international borders of Lebanon, especially in those areas where the border is disputed or uncertain, including in the Shebaa farms area;
- security arrangements to prevent the resumption of hostilities, including the establishment between the Blue Line and the Litani river of an area free of any armed personnel, assets and weapons other than those of the Lebanese armed and security forces and of UN mandated international forces deployed in this area;
- full implementation of the relevant provisions of the Taif Accords and of resolutions 1559 (2004) and 1680 (2006) that require the disarmament of all armed groups in Lebanon, so that, pursuant to the Lebanese cabinet decision of July 27, 2006, there will be no weapons or authority in Lebanon other than that of the Lebanese state;
- deployment of an international force in Lebanon, consistent with paragraph 10 below;
- establishment of an international embargo on the sale or supply of arms and related material to Lebanon except as authorized by its government;
- elimination of foreign forces in Lebanon without the consent of its government;
- provision to the United Nations of remaining maps of land mines in Lebanon in Israel’s possession;
OP7: Invites the Secretary General to support efforts to secure agreements in principle from the Government of Lebanon and the Government of Israel to the principles and elements for a long-term solution as set forth in paragraph 6 above;
OP8: Requests the Secretary General to develop, in liaison with key international actors and the concerned parties, proposals to implement the relevant provisions of the Taif Accords, and of resolutions 1559 (2004) and 1680 (2006), including disarmament, and for delineation of the international borders of Lebanon, especially in those areas where the border is disputed or uncertain, including by dealing with the Shebaa farms, and, to present those proposals to the Security Council within thirty days;
OP9. Calls on all parties to cooperate during this period with the Security Council and to refrain from any action contrary to paragraph 1 above that might adversely affect the search for a long-term solution, humanitarian access to civilian populations, or the safe return of displaced persons, and requests the Secretary General to keep the Council informed in this regard;
OP10. Expresses its intention, upon confirmation to the Security Council that the Government of Lebanon and the Government of Israel have agreed in principle to the principles and elements for a long-term solution as set forth in paragraph 6 above, and subject to their approval, to authorize in a further resolution under Chapter VII of the Charter the deployment of a UN mandated international force to support the Lebanese armed forces and government in providing a secure environment and contribute to the implementation of a permanent ceasefire and a long-term solution;
OP11. Requests UNIFIL upon cessation of hostilities, to monitor its implementation and to extend its assistance to help ensure humanitarian access to civilian populations and the safe return of displaced persons;
OP12. Calls upon the Government of Lebanon to ensure arms or related materiel are not imported into Lebanon without its consent and requests UNIFIL, conditions permitting, to assist the Government of Lebanon at its request;
OP13. Requests the Secretary-General to report to the Council within one week on the implementation of this resolution and to provide any relevant information in light of the Council’s intention to adopt, consistent with paragraph 10 above, a further resolution;
0P14. Decides to remain actively seized of the matter.

Harper wants "durable and lasting peace" in Middle East
Mike De Souza, CanWest News Service
Published: Saturday, August 05, 2006
CORNWALL, Ont. -- Prime Minister Stephen Harper says he isn't concerned about the recent backlash from various ethnic communities regarding his government's foreign policy because he believes his stance is perfectly in tune with the views of Canadians regarding the war on terrorism.
After wrapping up a summer retreat with his Conservative caucus, Harper dismissed recent polls and protests which suggest many Canadians want him to back away from his support of Israel in its conflict with Hezbollah in Lebanon and his resolve to pursue the Canadian military mission in Afghanistan.
"I think the position we have, properly understood, is exactly the position of Canadians," Harper told reporters on Friday. "Canadians want to see peace and stability in the Middle East. Canadians are not neutral on terrorism or on terrorist groups, and Canadians want us to work with the international community to develop a strong position that can lead to a durable and lasting peace."
Following the news conference, Harper had a different message for a Quebec audience in a TV interview backtracking on his earlier assessment of the Israeli military strikes in Lebanon as a "measured" response.
"Now we have a completely different situation from three weeks ago, as I've said many times. We have a full blown conflict, almost a war, and it's hard to say whether a response is proportional to another. It's a war," Harper told the French-language TVA network in Quebec.
Outside the Cornwal caucus, dozens of protesters, waving Canadian, Lebanese and Palestinian flags, tried to push their way past police to tell Harper they disagreed. Some of the protesters, from Cornwall, Montreal and Ottawa, said Harper is wrong to label Hezbollah in Lebanon as a terrorist group.
"Hezbollah are Lebanese civilians," said Fatima Mustapha, 20, a Montrealer who spent the past five years in Lebanon leading up to the recent evacuation. "It's the only one who is defending us. It's the only one who is defending the children who are dying, the families who are crushed by the bombs of Israel."
While the Prime Minister's Office eventually allowed two representatives of the protesters to meet with Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay and International Cooperation Minister Josee Verner, Harper refused to back down from his stance in support of Israel's right to defend itself as he spoke to reporters in English. Many reporters, including all of the French-speaking journalists, did not ask questions because of the ongoing dispute between the parliamentary press gallery and the PMO over the protocol at news conferences.
Meanwhile, Harper added that he wasn't worried about alienating voters in various cultural communities, explaining that the situation in Afghanistan and the Middle East represents a threat to Canada in light of the recent terrorism-related arrests in Toronto.
"There are a lot of long-term strategic interests of this country and of the world at stake here and that's why we're taking the positions that we're taking," said Harper. "I'm not concerned or preoccupied in any way with reaction within individual communities. I think that reaction is very predictable."
But the the protesters said they appreciated having a 45-minute meeting with the two ministers. One of the two representatives, Rana Abdallah, said Verner told them she was heartbroken as a mother of three, to see the casualties in Lebanon.
Harper also downplayed reports that the Conservative party was now using the government's foreign policy as a fundraising tactic. A letter that was recently sent out by the party didn't make any specific references to Israel or Lebanon, he said.
"It was simply an appeal to our members to support the government based on the positions we're taking on rebuilding the armed forces and Canada's influence in the world," he said. "We raise money based on calling on our members to support the government's general orientation on a range of policies and I think that's a perfectly legitimate way for the party to conduct its affairs."
Harper added that he didn't understand why the opposition is taking a different position on foreign policy.
"They are expressing positions without policy, without suggestions ideas that are completely different from those of the international community," he said. "The conditions have to be put in place to make a cease fire possible and make it stable. Obviously that isn't going to be the case as long as we have a terrorist organization that's initiating violence and won't cease its attacks."The government wouldn't change its position based on polls, he added.
"I watched the previous government make decisions on the basis of weekly polls, and we know what happened to them."
mdesouza@cns.canwest.com

Human Rights Watch
Sent : August 5, 2006 3:22:26 AM
Subject : Israel/Lebanon: Hezbollah Must End Attacks on Civilians
Rocket Attacks on Civilians in Israel Are War Crimes
(New York, August 5, 2006) – Hezbollah must immediately stop firing Entering the fourth week of attacks, such rockets have claimed 30 civilian
lives, including six children, and wounded hundreds more. "Lobbing rockets blindly into civilian areas is without doubt a war crime," said Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch. "Nothing can justify this assault on the most fundamental standards for sparing civilians the hazards of war." Hezbollah claims that some of its attacks are aimed at military bases inside Israel, which are legitimate targets. But most of the attacks appear to have been directed at civilian areas and have hit pedestrians, hospitals, schools, homes and businesses.
Since July 12, when Hezbollah captured two Israeli soldiers and killed eight, Human Rights Watch researchers have been documenting the war's impact on civilians in Israel and Lebanon, interviewing the witnesses and survivors of attacks, as well as doctors, emergency workers, police, military and government officials.
As of August 4, Hezbollah had launched a reported 2,500 rockets into predominantly civilian areas in northern Israel. Some longer-range rockets landed as far south as the city of Hadera, some 85 km from the border. Hezbollah announced that it had attacked Hadera on August 4 in retaliation for an Israeli air raid in Lebanon earlier that day that reportedly killed more than 20 farm workers.
Yesterday, Hezbollah's leader, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, offered to stop bombing Israel's "northern settlements" if the Israeli military stopped bombing Lebanon's "cities and civilians." He also warned that an Israeli attack on Beirut would result in Hezbollah bombing Tel Aviv. In a report issued on August 3, "Fatal Strikes: Israel's Indiscriminate Attacks Against Civilians in Lebanon," Human Rights Watch documented a systematic failure by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to distinguish between combatants and civilians. In some cases, the timing and intensity of the attack, the absence of a military target, as well as subsequent strikes
on rescuers, suggest that Israeli forces deliberately targeted civilians. Yesterday, Israeli bombing reportedly killed at least 40 civilians in Lebanon. "Human Rights Watch has documented the Israeli military's persistent use of indiscriminate force, which has killed hundreds of Lebanese civilians," Roth said. "But war crimes by one side in a conflict never justify war crimes by another. Hezbollah must stop using the excuse of Israeli misconduct to justify its own."
Northern Israel, an area populated by about one 1 million people, has come to a virtual standstill because of Hezbollah's rockets, which are exacting an enormous human and economic toll. Authorities believe that up to half the population has left the area, while the rest are living in constant fear of the air raid sirens that warn of attacks. Human Rights Watch said many of those who remain in northern Israel are unable to leave because they don't have relatives elsewhere in the country or the resources to pay for alternative accommodation. Some stay behind to care for relatives who are disabled or infirm, or because they work as emergency and medical personnel.
"Who is left here in Kiryat Shmona; the weakest part of the population," Shimon Kamari, the deputy mayor of Kiryat Shmona, only a few kilometers from the northern border, told Human Rights Watch. "The elderly and those who can't afford hotels, because to stay for such a long time is very expensive."
Hezbollah has fired three different types of weapons at Israel so far. The vast majority are 122mm Katyusha rockets, while 220mm Fajr rockets have landed in the cities of Haifa and Nazareth. Hezbollah has also fired several 302mm Khaiber-1 rockets; the first of these landed on July 28 in empty areas near Afula, 50 km south of the border, and another wave hit near Hadera on August 4. In addition, Hezbollah said it had fired Khaiber-1 rockets at Beit Shean on August 2.
Some of the rockets, such as those that killed eight rail workers in Haifa on July 16 and two young brothers in Nazareth on July 19, have warheads packed with thousands of metal ball bearings that spray out from the blast. Launched on civilian areas, the ball bearings are intended to inflict maximum harm.
Under international humanitarian law – also known as the laws of war – parties to an armed conflict must not make the civilian population the object of attack, or fire indiscriminately into civilian areas. Nor can they launch attacks that they know will cause incidental loss of civilian life, injury to civilians or damage to civilian objects that exceeds the concrete and direct military advantage anticipated. Such attacks constitute war crimes.
Latest Victims
In attacks on August 4, Hezbollah reportedly fired more than 200 rockets, killing three people. According to media reports, two men, aged 24 and 32, died and several were wounded when a rocket hit a restaurant in the Druze village of Majdal Krum. In another strike, a 27-year-old mother of two, Manal Azem, died around 2:15 p.m. when a rocket struck in the Druze village of Mrar. One and a half weeks ago, a 15-year-old girl, Daa Abbas, also died in Mrar when a rocket hit her home. On August 3, eight people died in two rocket attacks. In one attack in Acre, five people died: Shimon Zaribi, 44; his 15-year-old daughter Mazal; Albert Ben-Abu, 41; Ariyeh Tamam, 50; and Ariyeh's brother Tiran, 39. Human Rights Watch interviewed Ariyeh Tamam's wife, Tzvia, who was wounded in the attack. She told Human Rights Watch how the rocket killed her husband and brother-in-law, and wounded her sister-in-law, Simcha, and her eight-year-old daughter, Noa:
It destroyed our entire family. My husband is dead; his brother is dead; their sister is in a lot of pain. My disabled mother-in-law is devastated – Simcha also used to be her main caregiver. The kids are traumatized forever.
We don't have a bomb shelter in our building, so when the sirens started, we went to the shelter in my aunt's building on Ben Shushan Street. After the first rocket fell, and the siren stopped, we went out of the shelter to have a look. My daughter was standing near me, at the entrance, but Ariyeh went closer to the street.
Suddenly, there was another loud boom and pieces of metal flew everywhere. I didn't realize what had happened to me, but I rushed to the place where my husband was standing – all five people who were standing near the fence there were killed. There was blood everywhere; I tried to drag him away, and was screaming, 'Don't die; please don't die!' My son threw himself over his body, and was also screaming, 'Daddy, daddy, don't die!' Then the police
and the ambulances came, and took us all to the hospital.In another attack that day, three Palestinian-Arab Israeli youths from the village of Tarshiha lost their lives: Shnati Shnati, 21; Amir Naeem, 18; and Muhammad Faour, 17. During the attack, another rocket hit a house in the nearby village of Meila. A woman, Maha Morani, whose 2-year-old daughter Nura was wounded in the attack, told Human Rights Watch:
It was around 3.30 pm yesterday. It was the first time the rocket fell on our village. We live on the third floor in a three-floor apartment building. We left kids at home and went out just for a few minutes to buy some food. My daughter was sleeping in her room in a cradle, and our son was in the living room. Suddenly, the
siren went off, and my husband – I don't know how he felt it – tore at full speed to the house, and just flew up the stairs to the room where Nura was sleeping. He grabbed her and rushed down, and just a minute after they left the house, the rocket hit straight into the room where Nura had been sleeping. She was injured in the eye by pieces of concrete that flew all around. Thank God, our son was in another room, so he was not injured physically, but he was in shock. Since the attack he has not talked at all, not a single word.
Hits on Hospitals
Several medical and educational institutes have sustained damage from Katyusha attacks. Human Rights Watch researchers visited hospitals in Nahariya and Safed after they were hit. At Nahariya Hospital, rockets had been landing near the hospital since July 12, the hospital spokesperson said. On July 28, a rocket landed
directly on the fourth floor, where the ophthalmology department is located, leaving a gaping hole in the wall and destroying eight rooms with beds and medical equipment. According to the spokesperson, the department usually held 20 to 30 patients, but officials had moved patients from the top floors to basement rooms since the start of the conflict. "Otherwise it's hard to believe anyone would have survived the attack," the spokesperson said. He estimated the damage to the hospital at about $200,000.
"There are no military bases around here; nothing military at all," he said. "I believe they know perfectly well they are firing at a hospital." On July 17, around 11 p.m., a rocket landed just outside the Safed Hospital. According to the hospital's head of security, the impact of the blast shattered windows in more than 50 rooms on the hospital's north side and destroyed the external water and gas pipes. A patient in the hospital at the time, Roni Peri, 37, told Human Rights
Watch what happened when the rocket hit:
Several of us had just gone out to the balcony on our floor. We heard a siren and tried to get back in, but it came too fast. The rocket hit the wall below, and I saw a huge yellow flash and glass flying. I could see, hear and feel the explosion. I was thrown by the explosion to the other side of the balcony and both my legs and arms were cut from the glass. There was a boy in a wheelchair who was in the hospital because he was injured in a previous rocket strike. We had taken him outside with us to try and cheer him up, and he was badly hurt in the head by glass. He hasn't spoken since it happened.In the absence of troops or military assets inside, hospitals must never be attacked, Human Rights Watch said. Deliberately attacking them is a war crime.
Hits on Homes
Rockets have hit homes in many northern towns, although in most cases witnesses or security officials told Human Rights Watch that the inhabitants were not home at the time. In Nahariya, Moshe Zamir, 56, witnessed a rocket strike on his neighbor's house on July 18. "Around 6 p.m., I went outside to sit on my front
porch," he said. "All of a sudden, I heard a huge boom, and I quickly crouched down on the ground. I saw debris flying all over the place and I ran back inside my house." The missile hit the house of the Akuka family, Zamir's neighbors, who had already left town, he said. Malka Karasanti, 70, was injured when a rocket destroyed the top two floors of her three-story apartment building in Haifa on July 17. She told Human Rights Watch:
I was taking a nap in my apartment on the second floor when, around 2:30 p.m., I heard a siren go off. I went to the bathroom, which I use as my safe room since there is no shelter in the building. There was a loud boom, and then everything began to collapse around me. … I was injured in my right shoulder bone, I
broke a left rib, and I have a tear in my eardrum so I don't hear well now.
Hits on Businesses
Hezbollah rockets have hit a number of workplaces directly and have taken a heavy economic toll on agriculture, tourism, industry and small businesses in northern Israel. Many businesses in the north have either dramatically scaled back their work or have closed entirely due to ongoing attacks.
The most serious attack took place on July 16, when a rocket slammed into a train depot in Haifa, killing eight workers and wounding 12. Human Rights Watch interviewed four railway workers at Haifa's Rambam Hospital who were wounded by ball bearings from the lethal blast. "There were three loud booms, and I started running out of the depot," said Alek Vensbaum, 61, a worker at the Israel Train Authority. "One of the guys, Nissim, who was later killed, yelled at everyone to run to the shelter. The fourth boom got me when I was nearly at the door, and I was hit by shrapnel. ... I was hit by ball bearing-like pieces of metal in my neck, hand, stomach and foot." Sami Raz, 39, a railway electrician, said a ball bearing pierced his lung and lodged near his heart. "I had terrible difficulty breathing after I was hit," he said.
On July 23, a Hezbollah rocket hit a carpentry shop in Kiryat Ata owned by David Siboni, killing one worker named Habib Awad. Siboni, 60, told Human Rights Watch:
I've had this business for 30 years. Despite the situation, I decided to keep my shop open, just for fewer hours and with fewer workers. This morning I was in my office upstairs when I heard the siren go off. There were eight other workers in the shop and I yelled at them to run to the safe room. I didn't think I had time to
get downstairs, so I stayed up in my office and suddenly the rocket hit us directly. Habib had apparently just peeked out the door of the safe room to make sure everyone was in, and the blast got him. I think all the injuries were internal, you couldn't see any damage from the outside.
On July 19, a rocket hit a car garage in Nazareth owned for the past 35 years by Ased Abu Naja Ased. The direct hit destroyed the garage, the office with computers, diagnostic machines, several cars being serviced in the shop and three new cars for sale that had arrived that day. Abu Naja said that the attack thankfully took place on Wednesday, the one day of the week when the garage closed early. Otherwise, at least 20 workers would have been in the garage.
Shelters
Human Rights Watch researchers visited six bomb shelters in Haifa and Nahariya where many local residents have spent days and nights since the conflict began. Most of the shelters were stifling hot and overcrowded with insufficient facilities for the number of people they are meant to serve. Sitting in a shelter in Nahariya, Rosa Guttmann, 52, told Human Rights Watch how difficult it was for older residents. "The access for the elderly is hard with all the stairs," she said. "It is very difficult for them to quickly climb down into the shelter and later to get back out. The shelters are cramped and there isn't enough room for everyone."
Anther woman in the same shelter told Human Rights Watch:
We are in the shelter all the time, since the day things started. We only leave when the emergency services announce on the loudspeaker that we can go out. Sometimes we stay at the shelter during the day and go home to sleep at night. Yesterday we went home at around midnight to sleep but around 2 a.m. rockets started falling and at 5 a.m. we'd had enough, and returned to the shelter. We need more mattresses for everyone to sleep here. It is especially hard for the children. They are bored and they are scared.
On July 18, a Hezbollah rocket killed Andrei Zlanski, 37, just outside a bomb shelter in Nahariya. Human Rights Watch researchers arrived on the scene just after the attack and spoke with Eliav Sian, 34, a witness to the attack:
The guy put his wife and child into the bomb shelter and then went out, I'm not sure why. There was no siren at the time, just a general warning to enter and stay in the shelters. I was standing near the entrance of the shelter and the guy was just a few meters away. All of a sudden I heard a whistling sound, and quickly ran
back inside. The guy didn't make it and was killed instantly by the missile.
Zlanski, Human Rights Watch later learned, had stepped out of the shelter to get a blanket for his daughter. "There used to be about 70 people in the shelter but after he was killed many people left town, especially those with kids," said Yoav Zalgan, 35, a single man who remained in the shelter. "And now 30 people are usually here."

US, French UN draft wants end to Mideast fighting
By Evelyn Leopold 40 minutes ago
The United States and France reached agreement on Saturday on a U.N. Security Council resolution calling for a "full cessation of hostilities" between Israel and Hizbollah guerrillas as a first step toward a political settlement of the conflict. The 15-member U.N. Security Council will review the text, negotiated by Washington and Paris, on Saturday afternoon. A vote is expected within the next few days, perhaps as soon as Monday.
The draft resolution, obtained by Reuters calls, for a "full cessation of hostilities." It also tells Hizbollah to end attacks immediately and for Israel to stop "all offensive military operations" France's original text had demanded an immediate end to fighting so a permanent cease-fire agreement can be negotiated but the wording of the cessation of hostilities favors Israel. Unclear is the fate of the two Israeli soldiers, whose capture by Hizbollah sparked the conflict on July 12.
France's original text called for their release as well as the settlement of the issue of the Lebanese prisoners detained in Israel. This provision has now been moved to the preamble of the text where it has less weight. As before the text still has a range of principles that all parties should agree on before an international force can be authorized by the Security Council to monitor violations in southern Lebanon, which France may lead.
But with fighting raging, an end to hostilities still appears problematic.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told Reuters in an interview on Wednesday that Israel would stop fighting when the international force arrives. But France and other nations who may contribute troops have made clear fighting would have to stop first.
Hizbollah's cabinet Minister Mohammed Fneish said the militia would stop fighting when "Israeli aggression stops" and Israeli soldiers leave southern Lebanon.
'FIRST STEP' Still, Britain's British Prime Minister Tony Blair, said in London, "This is a first step. There is still much to be done. But there is no reason why this resolution should not be adopted now and we have the cessation of hostilities literally within the next couple of days."
White House spokesman Tony Snow said President George W. Bush, who is to meet Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice later at his Texas ranch, knew details of the resolution and "he's happy about it."
The talks over the last week were conducted by telephone between London and Paris and in New York between U.S. Ambassador John Bolton and his French counterpart, Jean-Marc de la Sabliere. "We have reached agreement with the French on a draft resolution," Bolton told reporters. "We are prepared to move as quickly as other members of the council want to move." He said he assumed that once the text was distributed, council members would send it to their governments and come back with agreement or changes."We are prepared to continue to work tomorrow (Sunday) to make progress on the resolution," Bolton said.A second resolution is envisaged a week or two after the first is adopted, setting down conditions for a permanent cease-fire and authorizing an international force stops.

U.S., France OK U.N. Mideast truce pact
By NICK WADHAMS, Associated Press Writer 22 minutes ago
The United States and France agreed Saturday on a draft U.N. Security Council resolution that calls for a halt to the fighting between Israel and Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas, but would allow Israel to defend itself if attacked. The draft, sent to the entire Security Council for consideration, "calls for a full cessation of hostilities based upon, in particular, the immediate cessation by Hezbollah of all attacks and the immediate cessation by Israel of all offensive military operations."
Israel, backed by the U.S., has insisted it must have the right to respond if Hezbollah launches missiles against it. France and many other nations had demanded an immediate halt to the fighting without conditions as a way to push the region back toward stability. The agreement broke weeks of deadlock as the U.N. Security Council had failed to take any significant action to stop the violence, primarily because of opposition from the United States, Israel's closest ally.
White House Press Secretary Tony Snow said the agreement will aid the peace process. "What we're trying to do is lay in the foundation so that you can finally enact the provisions of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1559," said Snow, speaking from Crawford, Texas, where President Bush was vacationing on his ranch. Resolution 1559, passed in September 2004, called for the disarming of Hezbollah and the extension of Lebanese government authority throughout southern Lebanon.
Illustrating the difficulty ahead in getting the sides to agree to a cease-fire, Mohammed Fneish, a Hezbollah member of the Lebanese Cabinet, said after the announcement that his group would stop fighting, but only if Israel removed all its troops from Lebanon. The draft resolution makes no such demand.
"If they stay, we will not abide by it," he told reporters. Israel has said it wants to continue fighting for up to two more weeks to seriously diminish Hezbollah's military capability. The full 15-nation Security Council was to meet later Saturday to discuss the resolution, and it was likely to be adopted in the next couple of days, U.S. Ambassador John Bolton said. "We're prepared to continue to work tomorrow in order to make progress on the adoption of the resolution but we have reached agreement and we're now ready to proceed," Bolton said. "We're prepared to move as quickly as other members of the council want to move."
The resolution asks that Israel and Lebanon agree to a set of principles to achieve a long-term peace. One crucial element is an arms embargo that would block any entity in Lebanon except the Lebanese government from obtaining weapons from abroad. That is presumably meant to block the sale or supply of arms to Hezbollah from Iran and Syria, believed to be the militia's main suppliers.
Other principles spelled out in the resolution include the disarmament of Hezbollah; the creation of a buffer zone from the U.N.-demarcated border between Israel and Lebanon up to the Litani River, which is about 20 miles north of the frontier; and the delineation of Lebanon's borders, especially in the disputed Chebaa Farms area.
The resolution would call for the current U.N. force in Lebanon, known by its acronym UNIFIL, to monitor the cessation in fighting. Once Israel and Lebanon have agreed to the series of principles, the Security Council would then authorize a new peacekeeping force for the region.
That force would "support the Lebanese armed forces and government in providing a secure environment and contribute to the implementation of a permanent cease-fire and a long-term solution." That element was a victory for France. The U.S. and Israel had earlier insisted that there would be no deal without the immediate deployment of a new force, separate from UNIFIL. In London, British Prime Minister Tony Blair endorsed the U.S.-French draft resolution, calling it "an important first step in bringing this tragic crisis to an end." "The priority now is to get the resolution adopted as soon as possible, and then to work for a permanent cease-fire and achieve the conditions in Lebanon and Israel which will prevent a recurrence," said Blair.
Israeli Tourism Minister Isaac Herzog said the agreement was an "important development," but Israel will not halt its war against Hezbollah for the time being.
"We have to study the details of this draft. There's a lot in there," Herzog told Israel TV's Channel One. "The Israeli military continues to act in the meantime, without letup, in many areas." It was not immediately clear whether Herzog was speaking for the government. Officials in Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's office said no formal reaction was expected Saturday. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was to arrive at Bush's ranch later Saturday, but would head back for a vote at the U.N. "She will be prepared to go to New York," U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said.
U.S. Assistant Secretary of State David Welch, meanwhile, met with Lebanese officials in Beirut Saturday trying to pave the way for ending hostilities. He talked with Prime Minister Fuad Saniora and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, a prominent Shiite who has been negotiating on behalf of Hezbollah.
He said the talks focused on establishing a lasting political framework for Lebanon and an international force to support the Lebanese army in taking control of the south from Hezbollah.  The fighting has been raging since July 12 when Hezbollah guerrillas crossed into northern Israel and captured two Israeli soldiers.

Bush happy with UN resolution
Sat Aug 5, 2006 1:57 PM ET
CRAWFORD, Texas (Reuters) - President George W. Bush was happy with a draft U.N. resolution on ending the fighting in southern Lebanon, the White House said on Saturday. White House spokesman Tony Snow said Bush, who is to meet Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice later at his Texas ranch, knew details of the resolution and "he's happy about it." The draft resolution, to be taken up by the Security Council later in the day, calls for a full cessation of hostilities based upon "immediate cessation by Hizbollah of all attacks and the immediate cessation by Israel of all offensive military operations."
A second resolution will take up the issue of a multinational force for Lebanon.

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