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U.N. scraps meeting about Mideast troops By NICK WADHAMS, Associated Press Writer
24 minutes ago


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060801

/ap_on_re_mi_ea/un_mideast_diplomacy
UNITED NATIONS - The United Nations on Monday scrapped a meeting of nations that might contribute troops to help stabilize south Lebanon, a decision that reflected the deep divisions among key nations on how to end the three-week war between Israel and Hezbollah.



Diplomats have stepped up efforts to resolve the crisis, but have been unable to resolve differences over the timing of a cease-fire and troop deployment.

Lebanon and France want an immediate halt to fighting to pave the way for a wider peace; the United States, which had sought the troop-contributor meeting, wants any cease-fire to be part of a package of simultaneous steps, including the deployment of a peacekeeping force.

A French-proposed draft Security Council resolution calls for the creation of a multinational peacekeeping force and a new buffer zone empty of either Israeli troops or Hezbollah militants — but only after a halt in fighting.

The United States was expected to put forward its own proposal in the coming days. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said earlier Monday she expected the U.N. resolution within a week.

But as she headed to Washington after a visit to Jerusalem, she struck a more pessimistic tone.

"There's a lot of work to do," she told reporters. "You have to get all the work done, you have to get it done urgently."

France, Italy, Germany, Ireland and Turkey have said they are considering joining a multinational force. Diplomats in the continent's other capitals are discussing whether to add their countries to the roster ahead of a hastily arranged EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels on Tuesday.

France, which has been mentioned as a contributor and possible leader of a force, helped scuttle the troop-contributor meeting when it said there was no point in talking about peacekeepers now with the war continuing between Israeli troops and Hezbollah militants.

"France is in favor of setting up an international force to implement a political settlement ... so it is important to have this political settlement before having the force deploy," France's U.N. Ambassador Jean-Marc de La Sabliere said. "It's premature at least to have such a meeting but it's a question of time."

That was a slap at the United States, which had sought the troop-contributor meeting in the first place. U.S. Ambassador John Bolton played down the significance of Annan's decision to postpone the troop-contributors' meeting, saying the move was a matter of schedules because senior officials who were expected to attend were busy elsewhere.

While disputes over a cease-fire have gained much of the attention, other difficult hurdles await diplomats seeking to negotiate a way out of the crisis that was sparked July 12 when Hezbollah captured two Israeli soldiers.

Israel wants an entirely new peacekeeping force to monitor any potential cease-fire, rather than an expansion of the current 2,000-man U.N. peacekeeping force in Lebanon.

While the force would likely have a U.N. mandate, Israel believes it should not be run out of the U.N. peacekeeping department. Yet both Syria and Lebanon say they oppose the creation of any new international force in Lebanon.

Instead they want just what Israel doesn't: the expansion of the current U.N. force there.

"We would not like to see a force — no matter how noble its mandate, no matter how good its intentions — be perceived in our country as a force that represents interests of one or more particular nations," Tarek Mitri, Lebanon's acting foreign minister, told the Security Council.

He suggested later that the United States, Israel's main backer, must pressure Israel to end the fighting.

"I like anyone else here know that the United States of America has a good measure of influence over Israel and the United States of America in times like this could put more pressure than the pressure we see so far," Mitri said.

President Bush resisted calls for an immediate halt to fighting, underlining that any peace deal must ensure that Hezbollah is crippled. He said Iran and Syria must stop backing the Shiite militant group with money and weapons.

"As we work with friends and allies, it's important to remember this crisis began with Hezbollah's unprovoked attacks against Israel. Israel is exercising its right to defend itself," Bush said