Despite an impassioned plea from Lebanon’s prime minister, world leaders gave in to pressure from Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Wednesday and left a summit here without calling for an immediate cease-fire in the Middle East.
After about 45 minutes of debate focused solely on a few key words regarding the cessation of violence, summit participants relented and accepted the U.S. position on the wording of a group statement, which pledged to “work immediately” toward an enduring cease-fire, rather than an “immediate cease-fire” itself.
Rice has insisted that a quick cease-fire is a waste of time without deeper agreement on long-term issues, including the disarmament of Hezbollah, the militant group that has controlled southern Lebanon and used it as a base to attack Israel.
She acknowledged pressing the point Wednesday in closed-door meetings with UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and diplomats and ministers from 15 European and Arab governments, as well as representatives from the European Union and World Bank.
“I did say to the group, `When will we learn? The fields of the Middle East are littered with broken cease-fires,'” she told reporters traveling with her to Malaysia after the Rome summit.
Critics have argued that the U.S. position is giving Israel a green light for continuing strikes that kill civilians without hurting Hezbollah.
Some European and Arab diplomats had insisted before the Rome meeting that they would not back down from their demands for a “cease-fire now.” But going along with Rice was necessary in the end if diplomats were to emerge with something–anything–to show the world for their work, said Finnish Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja.
“We agreed upon what we could agree,” he said, adding that Wednesday’s statement by the group did not change the position of European diplomats that halting hostilities immediately is vital.
Another diplomat involved said the group gave in to Rice because, “Everyone knew it was very important to get a consensus.” He spoke about the meeting on condition of anonymity.
Amid violence that has left more than 400 dead in Lebanon and 50 dead in Israel, Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora, a Bush administration ally, delivered a moving speech during the leaders’ closed-door session.
“Is the value of human life less in Lebanon than that of citizens elsewhere? Are we children of a lesser God?” Siniora said, according to a copy of his remarks. “Is an Israeli teardrop worth more than a drop of Lebanese blood?”
He also quoted Roman historian Tacitus, applying a nearly 2,000-year-old saying to Israeli attacks on Lebanon during the past two weeks of fighting: “They created a desolation and call it peace.”
Siniora warned that only despair and fanaticism would emerge from Lebanon’s rubble, accused Israel of war crimes and pleaded for an “immediate and comprehensive cease-fire.”
Although he didn’t get his wish, other diplomats said the power of Siniora’s words might have kept even the more modest group statement alive during Wednesday’s summit and that otherwise the groups might not have agreed on anything.
“Even the rather hardened, perhaps even cynical people–I’m sure they did listen to him very closely,” said Tuomioja, the Finnish minister. “It may have helped inject some sense of urgency into our deliberations.”
Said Rice: “I want a cease-fire as much as anybody. I looked into Prime Minister Siniora’s eyes. . . . I know what this must be like for him.”
Rice said work would begin within days on a draft resolution for the UN Security Council, which would incorporate the key pieces of Wednesday’s group statement, including the urgent need for an international security force to separate the warring sides. She also said she expected a meeting within about a week for nations interested in volunteering soldiers for that force.
Rice came to Rome after visiting beleaguered Beirut and Jerusalem.
She was headed to Malaysia on Wednesday for an unrelated session with Asian leaders and suggested she may be heading back to the Mideast as early as this weekend for more diplomatic efforts.
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csimpson@tribune.com
