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U.N. Talks Focus on Terms of Cease-Fire
Tarek Mitri, Lebanon's acting foreign minister, said at the United Nations that Hezbollah, with new support, would resist a European-led intervention force.
(By Osamu Honda -- Associated Press)
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Malloch Brown also highlighted a need to include Syria and Iran in any diplomatic settlement to the crisis and appealed to the United States and Britain to pursue a more discreet diplomatic strategy. France, Spain and other foreign powers have been meeting with Syrian and Iranian officials this week to secure their support for a multinational force that would initially focus on humanitarian relief and ensure the return of displaced Lebanese civilians to their homes.
Malloch Brown's remarks were directed at President Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who have angered France by publicly taking the lead in promoting the need for an international force in southern Lebanon while declining to participate.
"What is troubling to me is the U.S. and U.K. now carry with them a particular set of baggage in the Middle East," Malloch Brown said. "The challenge for them is to recognize that ultimately they have to allow others to share the lead in this effort diplomatically."
State Department spokesman Sean McCormack called Malloch Brown's comments "misguided and misplaced" and cited a "troubling pattern" by the senior U.N. official of "making it his business to criticize member states."
Mitri voiced frustration with the Bush administration's diplomatic strategy, criticizing what he characterized as an American belief that the intervention of a robust multinational force "will fix it all." Mitri said, "But when you get into the details of what that means, it means securing the border of Israel and putting everything else in peril."
His remarks reflected mounting concern among Lebanese officials and some U.N. diplomats that opposition by Hezbollah and its allies could spoil a deal that challenges its power in southern Lebanon. "It's no secret that Iran and Syria exercise indeed undeniable influence over Hezbollah," he said.
Mitri said that the Lebanese government, which includes two Hezbollah ministers, has endorsed a proposal by Lebanon's prime minister, Fouad Siniora, to permit the enlargement of the 2,000-member U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon.
He said the U.N. force would facilitate the delivery of humanitarian assistance, help displaced civilians return to their homes, and aid the Lebanese army in exerting control over southern Lebanon. He said any decision to disarm Hezbollah would be achieved through negotiations within the Lebanese government, not through the use of force.
The proposal to expand the U.N. role is opposed by Israel, which has faulted the U.N. force for failing to restrain Hezbollah's attacks against Israel for more than two decades. The head of the U.N. peacekeeping department, Jean-Marie Guéhenno, told the French newspaper Le Monde that in the best case "it will take months" to send a large peacekeeping mission.
Kessler reported from Washington. Staff writer Michael Abramowitz in Washington contributed to this report.
