LEBANON: European Union mission arrives in Beirut to meet with top Lebanese officials and hold discussions over the conflicts between Israel and Hizbollah

A mission from the European Union arrived in Beirut on Friday (July 28) to meet with top Lebanese officials and hold discussions over the conflicts between Israel and Hizbollah. The commission first met with Nabih Berri, Lebanon parliamentary speaker and the head of the Shi'ite Amal movement allied with Hizbollah. Berri received the E.U. delegation headed by Finland Foreign minister Erkki Tuomioja, who also act as E.U. Foreign minister at his Beirut residence. After the meeting, European external relations commissioner Benitta Ferrero-Waldner said everything was being done to facilitate the transport of humanitarian aid in the country. "We are really deeply concerned by the dignity of the Lebanese people for that reason we have tried to do everything to help first now on the humanitarian side. We have now done everything that corridors will be opened in the country, that help can come to the people, but at the same time also that entry into the country and out of the country is possible," Ferrero-Waldner said. Ferrero-Waldner then praised the consensus of the Lebanese government over Prime Minister Fouad Siniora's plan to reach a ceasefire agreement. "We are pleased to see that the Lebanese government now reached yesterday an important consensus in this very difficult situation by backing Prime Minister Siniora's plan that he has presented in Rome because this is a very important plan and this could pave the way for Lebanon to restore its state's sovereignty and then thus restore also its external and external confidence," she added. Diplomats said key elements of a political solution were identified at a private meeting during the Rome talks, between Rice, EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan and Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora. These included a U.N. ceasefire resolution, a prisoner swap between Israel and Hizbollah, solving a territorial dispute over the Israeli-occupied Shebaa Farms, moves to disarm Hizbollah and sending an EU-led international peace force to southern Lebanon. The E.U. delegation later met with the Lebanese cabinet, headed by Siniora. No statement was made. The European Union is working on putting together a robust peacekeeping force, probably led by France, that would have a U.N. mandate to patrol southern Lebanon and boost the Lebanese army, keeping Hizbollah away from the Israeli border. EU foreign ministers will hold emergency talks on Tuesday (August 1) to discuss the crisis and their role in the proposed force. Fierce fighting and the destruction of roads in the south have created terrifying conditions for civilians, and a U.N. official said the lack of clean water posed a fresh threat. A humanitarian corridor has allowed the United Nations to truck food and basic medical supplies to the southern port of Tyre, but getting safe passage beyond that is another matter. Aid workers said it was impossible to get medical supplies and food safely to isolated villages because of Israeli bombing. U.N. trucks arrived in Sidon carrying aid for the displaced and the U.N. plans to send more trucks on Saturday (July 29). The Lebanese authorities say up to 600 civilians have been killed in a 17-day Israeli onslaught, which began after Lebanese Hizbollah guerrillas killed eight Israeli soldiers and seized two in a cross-border raid on July The U.N. estimates there are up to 800,000 people in Lebanon displaced by the fighting and bombing.

ITN Source | July 29, 2006

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