UN Fails to Agree on Mideast Ceasefire

The 15-member UN Security Council on Sunday failed to agree on a draft resolution aimed at ending more than three weeks of fighting and settling terms to resolve the Israel-Hezbollah conflict in the face of strong opposition from Lebanon.

Both France and the United States -- at the forefront of a UN-led initiative to end the conflict -- now hope that their draft resolution will be formally introduced by Tuesday at the latest.

"Our discussions were focused, for the most part, on the concerns of (Lebanese Prime Minister) Fouad Siniora," said France's UN ambassador Jean-Marc de la Sabliere. "We must take into consideration everyone's concerns, while keeping the text's logic."

Lebanon rejects resolution

The passing of the resolution floundered after Qatar, the only Arab member of the council, and Lebanon voiced their unhappiness with the text and demanded modifications. Both Russia and China argued in favor of making the text more attractive to Lebanon.

The chief hurdle is the presence of some 10,000 Israeli troops in southern Lebanon. The draft does not call for their withdrawal, which would be left to a follow-up resolution authorizing an international force and setting peace terms.

Lebanese Foreign Ministry official Nouhad Mahmoud told Reuters that the current text was "not implementable."

"Definitely the intention of those who are working on it is the intention for peace, and that's why we are telling them that its not adequate that it does not really achieve the objective that they've set for themselves," said Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora.

Syrian foreign minister Walid Muallem also said the UN draft resolution to end the conflict was "a recipe for the continuation of war."

The draft resolution -- favored by Israel and the US -- does however call for a "full cessation of hostilities" and says Hezbollah must stop all attacks while Israel must halt "offensive military operations." It also calls on UN peacekeepers to monitor the truce and stipulates principles necessary for a permanent political settlement.

Merkel: resolution an "important step"

Despite misgivings in the Arab world about the US-French draft resolution, leaders elsewhere in Europe have welcomed it.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel called it "an important step towards a halt in military operations." Merkel stressed the resolution contained the right message.

"The accord on a resolution for the Middle East is a strong signal by the international community to the parties involved in the conflict," Merkel was quoted by a government spokesman as saying.

Olmert: "Don't preach to us"

Even as the German government mulls the possibility of sending German peacekeepers to the Middle East after an explicit statement to that effect by Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in a newspaper interview, the Israeli leader took a swipe at European leaders' heightening concerns about mounting civilian losses in Lebanon as a result of Israeli strikes.

In an interview published Sunday in German newspaper Welt am Sonntag, Olmert told European leaders to stop preaching to him about civilian war casualties.

"Where do they get the right to preach to Israel?" Olmert said. "European countries attacked Kosovo and killed 10,000 civilians. Ten thousand! And none of these countries had to suffer before that from a single rocket," he said. "I'm not saying it was wrong to intervene in Kosovo. But please: Don't preach to us about the treatment of civilians."

Meanwhile, there was no letup in the violence which has killed over 770 people in Lebanon, mostly civilians, and over 90 Israelis. Both sides have vowed to keep fighting.