Lebanon says 'inclined to accept' UN resolution

BEIRUT, Aug 12, 2006 (AFP)

Lebanon is "inclined to accept" a UN resolution calling for an end to Israel's war on Hezbollah, a minister said Saturday, warning the measure should not be used as a pretext for continued attacks.

"There is an inclination to accept this resolution, but it should be implemented and not a pretext to the pursuit of the Israeli offensive," Communications Minister Marwan Hamadeh told AFP.

"There is an inclination (to accept the resolution) because it satisfies, more or less, the Lebanese government plan to extend state sovereignty over all its territory," he said.

Hamadeh said the Lebanese government will take an official stand on the resolution at a cabinet meeting Saturday.

The UN Security Council on Friday unanimously called for an end to the bloodshed between Israel and Hezbollah and for the deployment of a 15,000-strong international peacekeeping force.

Resolution 1701, drawn up by the United States and France after protracted haggling, also calls for Israeli troops to be withdrawn from southern Lebanon after an end to the fighting.

Asked if Lebanon's move to accept the resolution came after the Security Council heeded a number of Lebanese demands in the final draft of the resolution, Hamadeh said: "Yes."

Lebanon succeeded in persuading the council to add a demand for an Israeli troop pullout from the country, once strengthened UN forces and the Lebanese army begin to deploy in the south.

The Lebanese government includes representatives of the Lebanese Shiite militant group Hezbollah, the target of Israel's war.

A Hezbollah spokesman told AFP that the group did not wish to comment.

Despite the UN Security Council vote, Israel launched an expanded ground offensive deep into southern Lebanon aimed at rooting out Hezbollah militants which it said could last weeks.