Bush, Blair Seek U.N. Force In South Lebanon as Buffer

After meeting with British Prime Minister Tony Blair, left, President Bush said he is sending Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice back to the Middle East. (By Melina Mara -- The Washington Post)

"Nobody wants to stop," said a senior European envoy who spoke anonymously because of the behind-the-scenes diplomacy. "We haven't reached the peak of hostilities, and until then it'll be difficult to move into the diplomatic work."

Moreover, there were signs yesterday that the Lebanese government may be working at cross purposes, with officials there joining Hezbollah in announcing a peace proposal that calls for an immediate cease-fire, followed swiftly by a prisoner exchange and reinforcement of U.N. troops along the embattled border.

But in Washington, U.S. officials were hopeful they finally had a framework that could lead to a durable end to violence that has seen hundreds of civilian deaths and hundreds of thousands of people displaced in southern Lebanon.

The basic aim of the U.S.-British plan is to extend the authority of the Beirut government throughout Lebanon for the first time since civil war broke out in 1975, reinforcing the Lebanese military with international military trainers, deploying an international force and disarming Hezbollah. Still unanswered, however, are the questions about how to do it, when and with what foreign troops -- issues that will be the subject of negotiations in the Middle East and at the United Nations next week.

One of the biggest questions is whether Hezbollah, which has been firing hundreds of missiles into Israel, would go along with the ideas being promoted by Bush and Blair, especially since the movement has been winning praise in the Arab world for the perception that it is standing up to Israel and the United States.

Annan and U.S. officials made it plain they have no expectation that an international force would fight its way into Lebanon and forcibly disarm Hezbollah. Annan said that the "cardinal principle" driving the debate on a new force is that its primary role would be in supporting the Lebanese authorities, a point Bush also made yesterday.

Thus the plan would ultimately rest on Hezbollah giving up its role as a resistance group and agreeing to focus solely on the political process, a stand it has previously refused to make. Many Middle East experts are doubtful this will happen, and administration officials conceded it is an obstacle.

"Hezbollah can accept a cease-fire, but I don't think it can accept those conditions," said Martin S. Indyk, a Clinton administration official who now heads the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution.

But administration officials emphasized that Hezbollah, and its patrons in Iran and Syria, could be pressured to go along with the new framework under the threat of international isolation. Referring to Hezbollah, one senior administration official said: "They are taking heavy losses, as much as everybody is saying they are not. We do believe that if we can keep momentum towards this framework, their options will continue to run out."

At the news conference, Bush and Blair issued sharp warnings to Syria and Iran, with Bush saying bluntly: "My message to Syria is become an active participant in the neighborhood for peace." Aides said both leaders see the hostilities as part of a larger struggle between Iran and Syria and the West and its more moderate Arab allies.

"We don't consider this just to be a border war between Israel and Hezbollah, a conflict that has been going on since 1982," said Undersecretary of State R. Nicholas Burns. "What this really is is an attempt by Iran and Syria to destabilize the Middle East, to challenge democratic governments and to disrupt our efforts to bring stability and peace to the region."

Another question is the composition of the multinational force. France, Italy, Turkey and other countries have expressed interest in participating in a multinational force, but officials said that no government is likely to make a formal commitment until it knows its precise mandate. U.S. officials do not anticipate American soldiers being involved.

One U.N. diplomat said it is unlikely that Monday's meeting, which will be hosted by the U.N.'s top peacekeeping official, Jean-Marie Guéhenno, will generate any firm offers to participate in the force.

Wright reported from Kuala Lumpur. Staff writers Colum Lynch at the United Nations and Josh White in Washington contributed to this report.