UN Security Council rejects Annan's call for immediate cease-fire

By Haaretz Staff and Agencies

UNITED NATIONS - The UN Security Council late on Sunday unanimously adopted a statement deploring Israel's deadly attack on the southern Lebanese village of Qana but rejected UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan's call for an immediate truce.

The policy statement, read at a public meeting, expressed "extreme shock and distress" at the air strike by the Israel Air Force that killed at least 60 people and asked Annan to report within a week "on the circumstances of this tragic incident."

It stressed "the urgency of securing a lasting, permanent and sustainable cease-fire" and affirmed the council's determination to work "without any further delay" to adopt a resolution "for a lasting settlement of the crisis."


U.S. Ambassador John Bolton said he opposed calling for a truce, as requested by Annan in an impassioned plea to an emergency council meeting he called after the strike on Qana, the deadliest single attack of Israel's 19-day-old war against Hezbollah militants.

Source

Year Resolution Vetoed by the USA If Multiple
Resolutions Voting Figures
For-Against
1972 Condemns Israel for killing hundreds of people in Syria and Lebanon in air raids.
1973 Afirms the rights of the Palestinians and calls on Israel to withdraw from the occupied territories.
1976 Condemns Israel for attacking Lebanese civilians.
Condemns Israel for building settlements in the occupied territories.
Calls for self determination for the Palestinians.
Afirms the rights of the Palestinians.
1976 Condemns South Africa's attempts to impose apartheid on Namibia. 2
1976 For the admission of Vietnam to the United Nations. 5
(from 1975)
1977 Condemns the apartheid situation in South Africa. 3
1978 Urges the permanent members (USA, USSR, UK, France, China) to insure United Nations decisions on the maintenance of international peace and security. 119-2
Criticises the living conditions of the Palestinians. 110-2
Condemns the Israeli human rights record in occupied territories. 97-3
1978 Calls for developed countries to increase the quantity and quality of development assistance to underdeveloped countries. 119-1
1979 Calls for an end to all military and nuclear collaboration with the apartheid South Africa. 114-3
Strengthens the arms embargo against South Africa. 132-3
Offers assistance to all the oppressed people of South Africa and their liberation movement. 134-3
Concerns negotiations on disarmament and cessation of the nuclear arms race. 120-3
Calls for the return of all inhabitants expelled by Israel. 121-3
Demands that Israel desist from human rights violations. 111-2
Requests a report on the living conditions of Palestinians in occupied Arab countries. 120-2
Offers assistance to the Palestinian people. 112-3
Discusses sovereignty over national resources in occupied Arab territories. 118-2
Calls for protection of developing counties' exports. 111-2
Calls for alternative approaches within the United Nations system for improving the enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms. 136-1
Opposes support for intervention in the internal or external affairs of states. 104-2
For a United Nations Conference on Women. 121-2
To include Palestinian women in the United Nations Conference on Women. 122-2
Safeguards rights of developing countries in multinational trade negotiations.

Hezbollah is an active participant in the political life and processes of Lebanon (much in the same way as Hamas in Palestinian communities). In 1992, it participated in Lebanese elections for the first time, winning 12 out of 128 seats in parliament. It won 10 seats in 1996, and 8 in 2000. In the general election of 2005, it won 14 seats nationwide, and an Amal-Hezbollah alliance won all 23 seats in Southern Lebanon.