Global Policy Forum

By Nicholas Watt, Ewen MacAskill,
Simon Tisdall and Oliver Burkeman

Efforts to secure an immediate ceasefire in Lebanon collapsed again yesterday after a divided European Union issued a watered-down statement and the United Nations postponed a full Security Council discussion promised by Tony Blair and Condoleezza Rice.

Despite escalating violence in southern Lebanon, EU foreign ministers rejected a draft statement that would have called for an immediate ceasefire and would have branded Israel's bombardment as "a severe breach of international humanitarian law". In a semantic bow to Washington and Tel Aviv, they called instead "for an immediate cessation of hostilities to be followed by a sustainable ceasefire".

Germany and four other countries joined Britain in opposing the tougher language that had been urged by France. In EU parlance, a "cessation" now appears to mean a temporary pause, whereas a "ceasefire" implies a more permanent arrangement. The wording is virtually identical to the statement agreed by foreign ministers at their last meeting two weeks ago in Brussels. The only difference is the addition of the call for a sustainable ceasefire after the cessation.

The foreign secretary, Margaret Beckett, denied the compromise amounted to a "green light" for Israel to continue its military offensive. "I would be saddened and dismayed if someone would read that into today's conclusions," she said.

Underlining the entangled nature of the debate, the German foreign minister, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, said: "Cessation of hostilities is not the same as a ceasefire. A ceasefire can perhaps be achieved later ... We can now only ask the UN Security Council and put pressure on it not to waste any more time."

Nothing materialised in the Security Council yesterday, however. Diplomats at the UN headquarters in New York say they are awaiting instructions from their governments. A meeting initially planned for Monday to discuss troop contributions to a multinational security force in south Lebanon has now been rescheduled for tomorrow. A full meeting of the Council to discuss a resolution to end hostilities and create a political framework in support of the Lebanese government has yet to be arranged.

Mr Blair and Ms Rice, the US secretary of state, both suggested at the weekend that the Council would take urgent action in the first half of this week. Kofi Annan, the Secretary General, met ambassadors of the Council's five permanent members - the US, Britain, France, Russia and China - and urged them to act quickly, stressing the need for unity.

There was a "genuine argument" about the conditions that would be required for a multinational force to enter the region, said the UK's ambassador, Sir Emyr Jones Parry. "We can't get away from the fact that there's a real difference of perspectives," he said. Asked if the US strategy was to give Israel more time to attack Hizbullah, Sir Emyr said: "It's not a question of giving time. It's a question of hoping very much that the situation will change on the ground."

The lack of unity on dealing with the crisis was underscored by the disclosure by Iran's new ambassador to Britain, Rasoul Movahedian, that the French foreign minister, Philippe Douste-Blazy, had offered to fly to Tehran. The move followed a meeting in Beirut on Monday with Iran's foreign minister, Manouchehr Mottaki. Mr Douste-Blazy described Iran as a stabilising force in the region - the complete opposite of the US and British view.

Mr Movahedian told the Guardian that he had been lobbied by Foreign Office officials to use Iran's influence with Hizbullah and that Mrs Beckett had called Mr Mottaki last week. But he denied that Iran had the power to halt the fighting. "People in this country [Britain] think that Hizbullah is like a machine with a switch in Tehran that we can turn off. This is not the case. At the moment we do not support it financially or militarily," he said.

Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, condemned the US and UK yesterday, saying they were culpable for the loss of civilian life in Lebanon. "It has become clear they are not competent to sit in the UN Security Council and enjoy veto rights. They are culprits, criminals themselves." He called for an immediate ceasefire.

Germany is pursuing its own course, making overtures to Syria, another Hizbullah backer. Mr Steinmeier said in an interview that he had offered president Bashar Assad closer cooperation with the EU, including trade incentives, in return for breaking its alliance with Iran, reining in Hizbullah and assisting the insertion of the multinational force.

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