UN Council "strongly deplores" deaths in Lebanon
31 Jul 2006 01:15:44 GMT


By Evelyn Leopold and Irwin Arieff
UNITED NATIONS, July 30 (Reuters) - The U.N. Security Council on Sunday unanimously adopted a statement deploring Israel's deadly attack on the southern Lebanese village of Qana but rejected U.N. 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 Israeli army that killed at east 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 Hizbollah militants.
"We don't think that simply returning to business as usual is a way to bring about a lasting solution," Bolton said.
"Rather than jump to conclusions about ceases-fires and other matters, we felt it was important to let that play out and to do what was important today, which was address the tragic loss of civilian life," Bolton told reporters.
Council statements need the consent of all 15 members.