U.N. Chief Meets With Israeli PM To Discuss Peace Plan

Israel won’t agree to lift its blockade of Lebanon, despite requests to do so from United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, until a ceasefire deal has been fully implemented.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert met with Annan Wednesday as part of an eleven-day Mideast tour by the U.N. chief.

Under the deal, 15,000 Lebanese soldiers and up to 15,000 international troops will be deployed along the Lebanon-Israel border in order to prevent arms from getting to Hezbollah. The guerrilla fighters were engaged in violent battles with Israeli soldiers for a little over a month, leaving hundreds of Lebanese dead and nearly a million people displaced from their homes.

Olmert also wants to see forces along Lebanon’s border with Syria – which has been accused, along with Iran, of supplying weapons to the militant fighters – but Syria has said it would consider the presence of international troops on its border an act of hostility. Lebanon has promised to put its own forces there instead, something Annan supports.

“We need to be flexible, because I don’t think there’s ever only one way of solving a problem. We shouldn’t insist that the only way to do it is by deploying international forces,” argued the U.N. spokesperson.

Annan asked that Israel withdraw its forces from southern Lebanon once the number of United Nations forces in the area reaches 5,000 – he figures that goal will be reached in the “coming days and weeks.” There are currently about 2,500 observers along the border, but they have a limited mandate.

“We hope that as we do that, the Israeli withdrawal (from Lebanon) will continue and by the time we are at that level, Israel will have fully withdrawn,” Annan said.

Annan also asked, in a news conference with Olmert, for the air and sea blockade against Lebanon to be lifted, something the PM wouldn’t commit to. Annan argues lifting the blockade is essential to helping Lebanon get back on its feet economically.

Olmert said he wanted to pull his troops out of Lebanon as soon as possible but hinted that 5,000 soldiers in the area wouldn’t be enough.

“I hope the conditions will change rapidly to allow direct contact between the government of Israel and the government of Lebanon to hopefully to reach agreement between the two countries,” the PM said.

Both Annan and Olmert have demanded Hezbollah release two Israeli soldiers captured on July 12, the event that triggered the month-long conflict. Annan said he’s doing everything he can to secure their release, and suggested that in a recent meeting with a Hezbollah member, he “did not get the impression that they are not alive. I believe they are alive.”

Annan’s Middle East tour is intended to strengthen the shaky truce. Italy sent more than 800 soldiers to Lebanon Tuesday to join the international force.