Clark adds voice to Annan's plea for immediate ceasefire

Helen Clark

New Zealand will strongly support United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan's call for an immediate ceasefire in Lebanon, Prime Minister Helen Clark says.

A UN meeting has been called in the wake of Israel's attack on the Lebanese village of Qana, which killed more than 60 people.

New Zealand was invited to take part because of the country's long-term commitment to peacekeeping in the region. The meeting will discuss the crisis and an international peacekeeping force for Lebanon.

Helen Clark welcomed Israel's 48-hour suspension of air strikes as a first step towards peace, but said both Israel and the Hizbollah soldiers it was attacking must immediately move towards a ceasefire.

"We have had a concern that tragedies like those at Qana risk further polarising and inflaming public opinion and undermining the scope of a negotiated solution to the conflict," she said. "We back the UN Secretary-General's very strong calls for a complete cessation of hostilities so that attention can be given to getting in a peacekeeping force, but you cannot expect countries to send peacekeepers in when there isn't a peace."

New Zealand would support any international initiative towards a ceasefire and lasting peace, but would only make a modest contribution to any force because of its military commitments in East Timor, Afghanistan and the Solomons, she said.

"Because of the heavy commitments we have, and I do stress that New Zealand very much pulls its weight in this area internationally, we would not be looking at a sizeable commitment."

Helen Clark said there was a "heavy responsibility" lying with permanent members of the UN Security Council and the warring parties to try and bring hostilities to a close as soon as possible.

United States President George W. Bush has called for a "sustainable peace" but stopped short of calling for the immediate ceasefire Helen Clark and many other leaders have demanded.

New Zealand strongly supported the call by Mr Annan for the cessation of hostilities to turn into a ceasefire and "give diplomacy time to work through a solution to the crisis".

"As far as it goes at this point, there is a breathing space which should allow for immediate relief assistance to go in to those most in need and hopefully also evacuate more civilians from areas under attack."

She said the bombings at Qana village, in which about 60 civilians, many of them children, were killed were horrific.

"It's hard to believe one's eyes in the 21st century when one sees civilian deaths and horror on this scale and we have consistently called for both sides to cease their attacks in the vicinity of civilians and UN posts and personnel."

Helen Clark said the permanent members of the UN Security Council were responsible for taking urgent action to support a lasting ceasefire and put in place the conditions necessary for a permanent solution in the area.

The Prime Minister yesterday declined to criticise the US position, and suggested the Israeli suspension of air raids might have stemmed from US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's visit to Israel.

"I think that the US is as acutely aware as anyone of the horrific toll of civilian deaths," she said.

- Additional reporting by NZPA