Posted on 07/24/2006 5:07:23 PM PDT by blam
Blair sees peace plan 'within days'
(Filed: 24/07/2006)
Tony Blair predicted a peace plan for the Middle East was within sight as both Britain and America shifted diplomatic emphasis towards a near-term solution to the conflict in Lebanon.
Israeli soldiers prepare to cross the border to Lebanon
Mr Blair's comments, coming in a Downing Street press conference with Iraqi prime minister Nouri Maliki, step up the pressure on Israel's politicians and military who have said they may require weeks to achieve their objectives.
"At some point in the next few days I hope we can say very clearly what our plan is to bring about the immediate end of hostilities," Mr Blair said.
The Prime Minister described events in Lebanon as "a catastrophe" that was damaging the country's fragile democracy but was clear that for the fighting to stop "it has to stop on both sides."
America, Israel's most important international ally, also showed signs of moderating its support for a protracted military campaign.
Having previously refused to urge a rapid end to violence on the grounds that the long-term outcome was more important, Condoleezza Rice, the US secretary of state, this morning called for an "urgent ceasefire" between the two sides.
However, she continued to insist that peace would only come to the region if the conditions for a truce were "sustainable" - implying that the Hizbollah threat must be neutered before Israel ends its attacks on Lebanon.
Both Britain and America have insisted that they can't supply troops to an international taskforce to enforce peace in the Middle East, putting the onus on France and Germany to offer resources. European Union foreign affairs chief, Javier Solana, today suggested that several European countries were prepared to commit soldiers and that the creation of an international force was a "real possibility."
Ehud Olmert, the Israeli prime minister, yesterday suggested that such a deployment might be acceptable but demanded the troops also police Lebanon's border with Syria, a condition the Lebanese would likely baulk at.
Ms Rice, who has arrived in Beirut for a surprise visit before heading to Israel, also indicated an openness to working with Syria to resolve the crisis, noting that the US still has a diplomatic mission and State Department officials working in the Syrian capital.
"The problem isn't that people haven't talked to the Syrians. It's that the Syrians haven't acted," she said.
"It's not as if we don't have diplomatic relations," she said. "We do."
In recent weeks, the US has blamed Syria, along with Iran, for stoking the violence in the Middle East by encouraging Hizbollah to attack northern Israel.
On the twelfth day of the conflict the Israeli pounding of southern Lebanon continued, bringing the death toll there above 370. Israeli tanks drove north from the border village of Maroun al-Ras, captured in heavy fighting last week, towards the town of Bint Jbeil, about two miles inside Lebanon.
Hizbollah said its fighters had hit five tanks, destroying some of them and killing and wounding several soldiers.
The incursion was one of several forays by Israeli troops across the border in search of elusive Hizbollah fighters using well-hidden rocket-launchers to attack northern Israel.
Lt Gen Dan Halutz, Israel's chief of staff, said his forces needed weeks to do their work. "I don't want to set a date," he said, "but we're trying to shorten the operation and still achieve our goals."
As senior diplomats from Britain, Germany and France arrived in Israel to try to coax it towards a ceasefire or at least restraint, Gen Halutz said: "The foreign ministers do not determine our time limit. The Israeli government does that."
In London, ministers insisted that there was no rift between the Foreign Office and No 10 after Kim Howells, a Foreign Office minister, speaking in Beirut, accused Israel of using disproportionate force and destroying Lebanon. He returned to the theme yesterday after visiting Haifa.
"I am very disturbed the more I hear about the extent of this campaign," he said. "At some stages there are 60 jets out there over the Mediterranean waiting to hit targets."
Tzipi Livni, the Israeli foreign minister, said she hoped that Mr Howells, having visited northern Israel, where some 2,000 missiles have struck, understood that the country "had a duty to defend its citizens".
Hallelujah! Peace in our time!
"peace plan" "diplomacy" "cease fire"
Terrorists love these things.
Re-group, Re-Arm, RECRUIT.
Kill them all. That is the only way.
Days?
100?
1,000?
|
" Britain should take a much more robust and independent approach to the United States, according to a Guardian/ICM poll published today, which finds strong public opposition to Tony Blair's close working relationship with President Bush."
"The wide-ranging survey of British attitudes to international affairs - the first since the conflict between Lebanon and Israel started- shows that a large majority of voters think Mr Blair has made the special relationship too special."
Nice interpretation there. Peace will occur when Hizbolla is destroyed.
"Peace & safety"!!!
7 year Treaty by any chance?
I have a cease-fire peace plan. The Israeli Defense Forces shall conduct diplomacy (through the barrel of a tank gun) with Hezbollah until Hezbollah possesses neither any weapon whatsoever to fire nor any person capable of firing any weapon. Once this diplomacy achieves its stated purpose, a cease fire begins. Any living (but clearly wounded and disabled) Hezbollah members go to Israeli jails or allowed to die. Because Hezbollah ceases to exist, this cease fire constitutes a long-lasting peace plan. If Hezbollah manages to reconstitute itself, or if any exiled, Syrian, or Iranian elements thereof ever set foot in Lebanon, they shall suffer gravely at the hands of either the sovereign Lebanese government exercising control over its territory or the Israelis.
Does anyone (except terrorists) object?
I vote yes for your pernament peace plan.
Sounds like our people are ready to give the terrorists another reprieve. It won't buy us respect either.
Q: What's the best "peace plan" when dealing with terrorists?
A: Kill them all. Period.
Q: When should Israel stop its counter-attack in Lebanon?
A: When the rubble stops bouncing in Damascus and Tehran.
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