PUTRAJAYA (Malaysia), Aug 03 (UNB/AP): Leaders of 18 Muslim nations today demanded of the United Nations Security Council to enforce an immediate stop to Israeli military aggression in Lebanon, failing which they want all Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) member-states to push for convening General Assembly meeting under 'Uniting for Peace' initiative. The leaders-presidents, a monarch, prime ministers and ministers-also want the peacekeeping operations in the Middle East to be led by Muslim forces. In a declaration on Lebanon, issued at the end of the one-day meeting of the OIC Executive Committee, here Thursday afternoon, they strongly condemned the relentless Israeli attacks on Lebanon and regarded them as a serious violation of the latter's territorial integrity and sovereignty. In this connection, the leaders of the OIC countries charged Israel with full responsibility for the consequences of its aggression. Meanwhile, Hezbollah's chief spokesman has said his group will not agree to a cease-fire until all Israeli troops leave Lebanon. "Declaring a cease-fire is not the concern of the people of Lebanon as long as there is one Israeli soldier on Lebanese soil-even one meter (into Lebanon)," Hezbollah spokesman Hussein Rahal told Al-Jazeera television. "We will not accept any (Israeli) soldier staying on Lebanese territory, and it is the right of every Lebanese to fight until liberation," he said. Another report adds: UK Prime Minister Tony Blair said he hoped for an agreement on a United Nations resolution for a cease- fire between Israel and Hezbollah fighters in southern Lebanon in "the next few days." "It's coming together," Blair told reporters in London at his monthly press conference. "The remaining differences are very slight." Blair said he spoke to U.S. President George W. Bush on the matter yesterday. He also said reports of a rift with his foreign secretary, Margaret Beckett, on whether to call for an immediate cease-fire were "complete rubbish."
|