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Rome talk-fest wraps up without apparent progress on cease-fire
A 15-nation crisis conference in Rome ended on Wednesday with no firm plan to stop the fighting between Israel and Hizbullah, disappointing Arab and UN hopes for an immediate cease-fire.
In an unusual overture, Lebanon's prime minister urged Israel to seek a peace process with all its Arab neighbors while pleading for an immediate end to the offensive.
But US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice maintained that any cease-fire must be "sustainable" and that there could be no return to the previous status quo.
In Rome, US, EU and Arab leaders agreed on the need for an international military force with a UN mandate to secure the border between Lebanon and Israel.
They vowed to work to reach a truce "with the utmost urgency" but, in language the US administration has used since the start of the Israeli offensive, said a cease-fire "must be lasting, permanent and sustainable."
The powers called on Israel to exercise "utmost restraint."
In an emotional speech, Siniora called for an immediate and comprehensive cease-fire.
"Is the value of human rights in Lebanon less than that of citizens elsewhere? Are we children of a lesser God? Is an Israeli teardrop worth more than a drop of Lebanese blood?" he asked world diplomats.
Speaking to reporters later, he said that Israel could only hope to live in peace and security through good relations with all of its neighbors.
One way to achieve that, he said, would be to renew discussions over a small, disputed territory between the two nations known as the Shebaa Farms.
"We want to liberate what's left of the Lebanese territories of what's still occupied by Israel," Siniora said. "This will put the [peace] process on the right track."
"It's high time for Israel to realize this is how to make peace in that region," Siniora said.
Until the Shebaa issue can be settled, Siniora appealed for the UN Security Council to grant access to the area for Lebanese property owners.
Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev said, however, that there could be no discussion of the Shebaa Farms with Lebanon.
Siniora said there were dangers in delaying a cease-fire.
"The more we delay the cease-fire, the more we are going to witness more being killed, more destruction and more aggression against the civilians in Lebanon, " Siniora said.
Siniora said the violence has brought his country "to its knees." While he acknowledged that Israel's offensive was sparked by Hizbullah's incursion across the border two weeks ago, he said the resultant offensive was "disproportionate."
Siniora demanded the withdrawal of Israeli forces to allow displaced Lebanese to return to their villages and demanded compensation from Israel.
"Israel cannot go on indefinitely disregarding international law," he said.
More
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=2&article_id=74288
But US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice maintained that any cease-fire must be "sustainable" and that there could be no return to the previous status quo.
In Rome, US, EU and Arab leaders agreed on the need for an international military force with a UN mandate to secure the border between Lebanon and Israel.
They vowed to work to reach a truce "with the utmost urgency" but, in language the US administration has used since the start of the Israeli offensive, said a cease-fire "must be lasting, permanent and sustainable."
The powers called on Israel to exercise "utmost restraint."
In an emotional speech, Siniora called for an immediate and comprehensive cease-fire.
"Is the value of human rights in Lebanon less than that of citizens elsewhere? Are we children of a lesser God? Is an Israeli teardrop worth more than a drop of Lebanese blood?" he asked world diplomats.
Speaking to reporters later, he said that Israel could only hope to live in peace and security through good relations with all of its neighbors.
One way to achieve that, he said, would be to renew discussions over a small, disputed territory between the two nations known as the Shebaa Farms.
"We want to liberate what's left of the Lebanese territories of what's still occupied by Israel," Siniora said. "This will put the [peace] process on the right track."
"It's high time for Israel to realize this is how to make peace in that region," Siniora said.
Until the Shebaa issue can be settled, Siniora appealed for the UN Security Council to grant access to the area for Lebanese property owners.
Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev said, however, that there could be no discussion of the Shebaa Farms with Lebanon.
Siniora said there were dangers in delaying a cease-fire.
"The more we delay the cease-fire, the more we are going to witness more being killed, more destruction and more aggression against the civilians in Lebanon, " Siniora said.
Siniora said the violence has brought his country "to its knees." While he acknowledged that Israel's offensive was sparked by Hizbullah's incursion across the border two weeks ago, he said the resultant offensive was "disproportionate."
Siniora demanded the withdrawal of Israeli forces to allow displaced Lebanese to return to their villages and demanded compensation from Israel.
"Israel cannot go on indefinitely disregarding international law," he said.
More
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=2&article_id=74288
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Having ignored the war for two weeks, Condoleezza Rice, the US Secretary of State, has at last this week visited Lebanon and Israel, and has attended a meeting of the Lebanon contact group in Rome. Regrettably, at all these stops she has done almost everything wrong. This is not entirely her fault. She is the servant of a profoundly misguided American foreign policy.
Her first - and most important - mistake was not to insist on an immediate ceasefire. She is waiting, she says, for conditions to be "conducive." A ceasefire would be pointless, she argues, if it merely restored the status quo ante of an Israeli-Hezbollah confrontation. Her aim, she explained, was to bring about a fundamental improvement in Israel's environment - to create a "new, democratic Middle East." This, of course, is pure Israel-speak, and pure fantasy.
So long as the United States concerns itself only with Israel's security and ignores the interests of the Arab parties to the conflict, Condoleezza Rice's efforts will be doomed to failure.
Her second mistake was her failure to invite Hezbollah, Syria and Iran to the Rome meeting. How could she hope to strike a deal if the parties on one side of the conflict were absent? (Israel was also absent, but her interests were amply represented by the United States.) The answer is that Dr. Rice has no interest in striking a deal or mediating a settlement. She wants to impose terms on Israel's enemies - or allow Israel to do so.
Nothing better illustrates the fundamental contradictions of US policy than the fact that it is rushing hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of precision bombs and aviation fuel to Israel, while at the same time sending the stricken Lebanese population $30m of humanitarian aid.
In Beirut, Rice shed crocodile tears over the death of more than 350 Lebanese, mainly civilians, the wounding of thousands more and the forcible displacement from their shattered villages and homes of a further 700,000 or 800,000. In Israel, she did not demur when Prime Minister Olmert vowed to continue his murderous onslaught. That alone condemns her in the eyes of much of the world.
Rice's declared goals are to secure the release of the two captured Israeli soldiers, disarm Hezbollah and force it back some 20 kilometres from the Israel border, and then put in place an international force to prevent any further rocket attacks against Israel. These are unrealistic objectives, because they give Hezbollah and its backers no reason to comply.
Rice might have been more successful if her goals had been more balanced. For example, she could have a) called for a truce, that is to say a suspension of military operations by both sides, to allow help to reach the hard-pressed Lebanese population; b) insisted on an exchange of prisoners (including some Lebanese prisoners who have been held in Israeli jails for nearly 30 years); and, c) required Hezbollah to withdraw from the immediate border area in exchange for an Israel withdrawal from the Shebaa Farms, an enclave of Lebanese territory occupied since 1967. These moves could have laid the groundwork for a more permanent ceasefire.
Rice's third mistake was her attempt to rustle up an international force to disarm Hezbollah. This is an absurdity. If a peace-keeping force is deployed solely to protect Israel, it will immediately be attacked by Hezbollah. No state would wish to expose its troops in this way.
If, however, the proposed international force is given a peace-enforcement mandate, and not a mere peace-keeping one, it will need to have the capability to deter Israel as well as Hezbollah. Would it be able to prevent Israeli incursions, kidnappings and targeted assassinations, as have happened so often in the past? Would it hunt down the scores of Israeli agents in Lebanon, such as the assassination cell which was recently uncovered by the Lebanese authorities and charged with several murders?
Would it be able to shoot down Israeli aircraft over-flying Lebanon on reconnaissance or combat missions, as they have done on a regular basis for much of the past 40 years? If the answer is "no" to these questions, then the idea of an international force had better be abandoned.
Condoleezza Rice is in the unfortunate position of having inherited a deeply flawed US policy. She does not seem to have the understanding, the authority or the inclination to change course.
Apart from numerous smaller-scale aggressions, Israel first invaded Lebanon in 1978. President Jimmy Carter ordered Israel out. It complied, but not before it had set up a security zone controlled by a proxy force. In 1982, Israel invaded again, killing some 20,000 Lebanese and Palestinians, and bombarding Beirut. Rather than ordering the Israelis out as Carter had done, President Ronald Reagan decided to negotiate their withdrawal. As a result, with American complicity, Israel remained in occupation of some 10 per cent of Lebanese territory until driven out by Hezbollah guerrillas in 2000.
Allowing Israel to remain in south Lebanon for 22 years was a major American blunder. Hezbollah was a direct product of that policy. With America's blessing, Israel's Defence Minister Amir Peretz now intends to establish yet another free-fire security zone on Lebanese territory. Predictably, Hezbollah's leader, Sheikh Hasan Nasrallah, has vowed to launch his guerrillas against it. This is a recipe for continued conflict.
Someone should explain to Dr. Rice that Hezbollah is not a terrorist organization. It is a resistance movement which managed to liberate Lebanese territory from Israeli occupation and which is dedicated to protecting the Shia population of south Lebanon from Israeli aggression. Since the Lebanese state is incapable of defending itself, Hezbollah will give up its weapons only when there is no further threat from Israel.
More
http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=17105