British Prime Minister Tony Blair and U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan called Monday for the deployment of international forces to stop the bombardment of Israel.
"The blunt reality is that this violence is not going to stop unless we create the conditions for the cessation of violence," Blair said after talks with Annan on the margins of the Group of Eight summit. "The only way is if we have a deployment of international forces that can stop bombardment coming into Israel."
Annan appealed to Israel to abide by international law, spare civilian lives and infrastructure.
He also said that the United Nations was considering evacuation plans for U.N. dependents from Lebanon, while Blair said Britain was looking at the possibility of creating an air bridge for its citizens.
Mark Regev, a spokesman for Israel's Foreign Ministry said that his country "would welcome a more energetic and decisive international effort to bring about immediate and full implementation of Security Council resolutions 1559 and 1680, which call for the disarmament of Hezbollah."
The comments by Blair and Annan came a day after world leaders forged a unified response at their G-8 summit to the crisis in the Middle East, blaming Hezbollah and Hamas for the escalating violence and recognizing Israel's right to defend itself — although they called on the Jewish state to show restraint.
"We cobbled together a very important statement," President Bush told reporters. Yeah Bush is claiming he can write!
"I am most pleased that the leaders came together to say, look, we condemn violence. We honor innocent life," Bush said before heading into a meeting with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. "For the first time, we've really begun to address with clarity the root causes of the conflict ... and that is terrorist activity — namely Hezbollah, that's housed and encouraged by Syria."
Bush also asserted that the militant Islamic group is financed by Iran. However, the G-8 statement makes no mention of Syria or Iran. Russian President Vladimir Putin told reporters that Russia blocked the effort to name Syria.
"If we don't have enough grounds to blame somebody, we cannot ... put them in documents on such a serious state level just based on assertions," Putin said.
The leaders of major industrialized countries — the United States, Russia, Japan, Germany, Britain, France, Italy and Canada — convened Monday for their final sessions with seven leaders of the developing world. The nations represented include a trio of emerging economic powerhouses — China, India and Brazil.
Those talks focused on more traditional summit fare, such as restarting stalled global trade talks and implementing a major debt relief program for the world's poorest nations that was announced at last year's summit.
Bush, who also met individually with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio da Silva, said that the two would discuss "how we can move the Doha round forward," referring to the stalled trade talks being conducted by the 149 member nations of the World Trade Organization.
In his meeting with Singh, Bush called a recent agreement to share nuclear technology with India "a wonderful deal" despite criticism that the agreement could undermine efforts to stop the spread of nuclear weapons.
The G-8 leaders had struggled to come up with a unified position on how to deal with the escalating warfare between Israel and Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon.
The leaders' statement said extremist groups cannot be allowed to plunge the Middle East into violence. It also urged Israel to exercise restraint in its military campaign.
The statement was a compromise between a U.S. position strongly supporting Israel's right to defend itself against terrorist attacks and the views of other G-8 countries that Israel was engaging in excessive force.
The statement was carefully written so that different countries could claim it said different things. French President Jacques Chirac said it was evident from the statement that the G-8 was calling for a cease-fire on both sides of the conflict.
But Nicholas Burns, undersecretary of state for political affairs, disagreed, saying, "There was no push by any country for a cease-fire."
The Bush administration insisted the call for halting Israeli airstrikes was conditioned on Hezbollah releasing captured Israeli soldiers and ending missile attacks on Israel, although the statement was not clear on these points.
The U.S. view was supported by German Chancellor Angela Merkel. She said the soldiers must be returned unharmed and attacks on Israel must stop. "Then, of course, also the Israeli military action must be ended," she said.
What about Israel bombing Lebanon? Who's gonna stop that....And who's gonna stop them from bombing innocent Palestinians?
"If we don't have enough grounds to blame somebody, we cannot ... put them in documents on such a serious state level just based on assertions," Putin said.
Don't you just love this guy?
In his meeting with Singh, Bush called a recent agreement to share nuclear technology with India "a wonderful deal" despite criticism that the agreement could undermine efforts to stop the spread of nuclear weapons.
Who's going to 'disarm' these guys?
It also urged Israel to exercise restraint in its military campaign.
The Bush administration insisted the call for halting Israeli airstrikes was conditioned on Hezbollah releasing captured Israeli soldiers and ending missile attacks on Israel, although the statement was not clear on these points.
The U.S. view was supported by German Chancellor Angela Merkel. She said the soldiers must be returned unharmed and attacks on Israel must stop. "Then, of course, also the Israeli military action must be ended," she said.
\Before Hezbollah guerillas crossed the border into Israel, attacked an Israeli army unit and kidnapped a couple soldiers, Israel was not attacking Beruit.
Funny how things get out of hand when you insist on doing nasty things such as that.
This whole thing is nonsense and Bro Imaad i hear what you are saying but are you saying that Israel had NO OTHER means then to attack the country that thier 2 soliders are held and in the meantime maybe even killing thier own soliders,
I agree that Hezbollah should release the prisoners BUT I dont think that would be the end of this STUPID ILEGAL WAR. There is a saying in my lang and its
If you break down a wall you make way for others
Thats what Israel have done they attacked Lebonon and NOW bush has already jumped the banwagan using this as a reason to attack Syria and Iran. This was all very well planned!
This whole thing is nonsense and Bro Imaad i hear what you are saying but are you saying that Israel had NO OTHER means then to attack the country that thier 2 soliders are held and in the meantime maybe even killing thier own soliders,
I agree that Hezbollah should release the prisoners BUT I dont think that would be the end of this STUPID ILEGAL WAR. There is a saying in my lang and its
If you break down a wall you make way for others
Thats what Israel have done they attacked Lebonon and NOW bush has already jumped the banwagan using this as a reason to attack Syria and Iran. This was all very well planned!
I think it was planned well by Iran, but I could be wrong.
I also dont think the war is illegal. UN resolution 1559 specifically calls for all militias in Lebanon to be disarmed.
"3. Calls for the disbanding and disarmament of all Lebanese and non-Lebanese militias"
UN Security Council resolutions have the validity of international law.
\Before Hezbollah guerillas crossed the border into Israel, attacked an Israeli army unit and kidnapped a couple soldiers, Israel was not attacking Beruit.
Funny how things get out of hand when you insist on doing nasty things such as that.
In 1982, Israeli accrossed and invaded Lebanon because of Hezballah too?
Location: Lebanon is mountainous, bounded on the north and east by Syria, on the west by the Mediterranean and on the south by Israel. Between the parallel mountains ranges of Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon lies the fertile Bekka Valley. About one-half of the country lies at an altitude of over 3,000 ft.
Capital: Beirut
Area: Lebanon is a small country of only 10,452 sq km (4036 sq mi); from north to south it extends 217 km (135 mi) and from east to west it spans 80 km (50 mi) at its widest point.
Language: Arabic is the official language. French is the second most commonly used language and English is also spoken, especially in business circles. Kurdish and Armenian are spoken by a small percentage of the population.
Religion: Unlike most other Arab countries, Lebanon is characterized by great religious and cultural diversity. At the time of independence Christians formed a slight majority of the population, the largest single community (nearly 30% of the total) being the Maronite Christians, who mostly inhabited the north of Lebanon and the capital, Beirut. Other Christian groups included Greek Orthodox communities, Greek Catholics and Armenians. The Muslim groups were the Sunnis (living mainly in the coastal towns of Tyre, Sidon and Beirut), the Shi´as (a predominantly rural community in southern Lebanon and the northern Beka´a valley) and the much smaller Druzes, an ancient community in central Lebanon.
Population: The 1997 estimated population was 3,111,828, but this figure, provided by the Lebanese government, does not include Palestinian refugees and foreign workers, mainly Syrian.
Membership: Lebanon is a member of the UN and Arab League, and Organization of the Islamic Conference.
Currency: Lebanese Pound (L£ = 100 piastres.
Lebanon Time Difference: GMT + 2 (GMT + 3 in summer)
In 1982, Israeli accrossed and invaded Lebanon because of Hezballah too?
That was in response to a PLO terrorist attack which originated from Southern Lebanon and ended up taking the lives of over 30 Israeli civilians on a hijacked bus and the murder of an American tourist.
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....Atleast release their prisoners....
= 100 piastres.
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