U.S. expected to again oppose an immediate truce

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan urged the Security Council on Sunday to condemn a deadly Israeli attack on the Lebanese village of Qana and to call for an immediate end to the violence."I am deeply dismayed that my earlier calls for an immediate cessation of hostilities were not heeded," Annan said. "I repeat this call once again from this chamber and I appeal to the council to do likewise."

Annan was speaking at an emergency council meeting he called after the Israeli air strike on Qana killed more than 60 civilians in the deadliest single attack of its 19-day-old war against Hizbollah militants.The council, after an hour of consultations, adjourned until later on Sunday while the 15 members contacted their governments on a possible statement.

But U.S. Ambassador John Bolton, who expected the council to express "profound regrets" over the Qana attack, made clear Washington would only back an "enduring" negotiated cease-fire, not an immediate truce. Read more

db: Clearly it appears that the US via the neocon John Bolton will again successfully block a ceasefire call - against the will of both the UN and World public opinion. Emyr Jones Parry, the British Ambassador, called on the council to call for an immediate end to fighting as well as a resolution setting out "the political basis for resolving this crisis on a longer-term basis." Parry will be an interesting act to follow when the session resumes later - will the Brit position change, or are we going to continue subverting both the interests of the UK and Lebanon by blindly following the US - who for their own reasons, both domestic and geopolitical, require that Israel be given more time to complete what is already, essentially, a failed mission.