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Lebanon ceasefire calls mount as world protests at Israeli raid
Beirut (AFP) Jul 31, 2006 Governments and angry street crowds on all continents voiced shock and fury on Monday at the Israeli air strike on Qana that killed 52 Lebanese civilians, mostly sleeping children. Lebanon was plunged into mourning, with banks and public offices closed and flags at half-mast to lament its biggest single loss of life since Israel unleashed its firepower on Lebanon almost three weeks ago. In New York, meanwhile, Lebanon's Foreign Minister Tarek Mitri went before the United Nations Security Council to demand an immediate ceasefire. Calls for such a ceasefire were echoed around the world. "What else has to happen before there is an immediate ceasefire and negotiations on a minimal peace settlement?" asked Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero. Conflict, he said, would "lead only to more suffering, more pain, more insecurity, to a huge loss of time and -- what is most serious -- to the loss of too many innocent lives". In Lebanon's powerful neighbour Syria, hundreds of protestors massed in the capital Damascus, lashing out at Israel and its ally, the United States. They carried small coffins representing the 30 children killed in the attack. Iraq's leaders, including its most revered Shiite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, also demanded an immediate ceasefire in Lebanon. Protestors supporting Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah, which Israel has vowed to crush, marched through a Shiite neighbourhood of Baghdad and burned Israeli and US flags. Public outrage flared up far beyond the Middle East, with hundreds protesting in France, Denmark, Bulgaria, and in Brazil and Paraguay. In Africa, 3,000 Lebanese protested in Ivory Coast. Demonstration are planned in London on Saturday and in Morocco on August 6. Governments across the world called for an immediate ceasefire, not only Muslim nations like Indonesia, Afghanistan, Iran and Iraq but also from China, Japan, Europe and Africa. In the face of international outrage over Qana, Israel on Sunday declared a conditional 48-hour pause in air raids. But it nevertheless launched several air strikes near the Syrian border on Monday, wounding Lebanese border officials and one civilian. The United States and Britain have refused to call for an immediate ceasefire and the United Nations Security Council, under pressure from the US, has made no open criticism of Israel. But on Monday the UN's top human rights official, Louise Arbour, added her voice to the condemnations of the attack and said under international law combatants must take measures to protect civilians. Expressions of shock poured in from elsewhere around the world. Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation, branded Israel's attack a "criminal act" and Saudi Arabia accused Israel of "war crimes". Pakistan and India issued stern condemnations and China's foreign ministry urged an immediate ceasefire "to avoid further disaster". Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whose country is one of Israel's few Muslim allies, said the assault on Qana signalled "a new culture of violence" that would fuel hatred and terrorism in the region. Iran stepped up verbal attacks on Israel, declaring in the light of the Qana assault that Israeli officials would suffer a fate worse than that of Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler. Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki arrived on Monday evening in Lebanon, where he was due to meet the country's President Emile Lahoud and Prime Minister Fuad Siniora. European Union foreign ministers are due to meet on Tuesday to discuss a possible ceasefire and humanitarian aid for Lebanon. French President Jacques Chirac and German Chancellor Angela Merkel vowed to pursue efforts for a political settlement, a day after France issued a draft resolution on the conflict for consideration by the Security Council. Germany also issued a joint statement with Britain on Monday urging a ceasefire. Danish Foreign Minister Per Stig Moeller said Israel's actions were "strengthening Hezbollah and weakening Lebanon". Russia described the bombing of Qana as a "gross violation" of international humanitarian law. The African Union also weighed in, saying that the raid "runs contrary to the basic norms of international humanitarian law" and backing UN measures aimed at ending the fighting. But Israel rejected the calls for a truce. "If there is an immediate ceasefire, the extremists will immediately rear their heads," Israeli Defense Minister Amir Peretz told a stormy parliament session in Jerusalem. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert vowed to continue attacking Hezbollah. Lebanon says 750 people, most of them civilians, have been killed in the 20-day Israeli offensive, which has also displaced hundreds of thousands and laid waste to much of the country's infrastructure. An AFP count has put the death toll at more than 500. A total of 51 Israelis have been killed, most of them soldiers. burs/rlp/gil Community Email This Article Comment On This Article Related Links Nuclear Space Technology at Space-Travel.com
British 'friendly fire' death in Iraq could have been prevented: report
London (AFP) Jul 31, 2006 The killing of a British tank commander by "friendly fire" in Iraq could have been prevented, according to an official report into his death published Monday. |
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