Qatar Cautions Against U.N. Mideast Draft
Josephine Roque - All Headline News Staff Writer (AHN) - Qatar's foreign minister expressed caution to the U.N. Security Council regarding the draft demanding the end to the violence between Israel and Hezbollah. He stated that it will only worsen the situation if it does not include the condition of Israeli troops vacating from southern Lebanon. Hamad bin Jassem Al Thani, a member of the Arab contingent, said the U.S.-French draft would be hard to put in effect in its current form. He added there must be a move to pull out Israeli troops from southern Lebanon and boost U.N. peacekeepers in the region. "We draw the attention of our august council to the repercussions of adopting a non-enforceable resolution that would further complicate the situation on the ground and have grave ramifications for Lebanon, Arab countries and all the countries of the region," Al Thani said. The Arab delegation also included the chief of the Arab League and the foreign minister of the United Arab Emirates. They arrived before the session discussing Lebanon's objections to the resolution. They were banking on a request to the council to include some of Lebanon's demands in the resolution. "We are all here to find a way out," said Tarek Mitri, sent to the U.N. as a special envoy by Lebanon's Council of Ministers. "The proposal of our government ... should be looked at as a viable option. It allows the true effective cessation o |