International pressure rises for Lebanon ceasefire

International pressure for a swift ceasefire in Lebanon mounted yesterday, with France saying Israel's pause in air strikes was not enough and Russia calling for an immediate suspension of hostilities.

Israel pledged a 48-hour halt to air strikes after an attack at the weekend killed at least 54 people in a Lebanese village, but said it would step up its drive against Hizbollah guerillas until an international force was deployed in south Lebanon.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice won the Israeli air strikes suspension after widespread outrage over the raid, the deadliest single attack of Israel's three-week-old offensive. She said in Jerusalem that a ceasefire was possible this week.

Russia, like France and the United States a permanent member of the UN Security Council with veto powers, said Sunday's tragedy showed it was time to stop the fighting.

"It is impossible to accept the logic and arguments of those who, under various pretexts, are dragging out (the declaration of a) ceasefire, especially as the international community is coming to a consensus on the framework for resolving the Israeli-Lebanese conflict," the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin told reporters yesterday Israel's temporary halt to air strikes was "a first step, but an insufficient step given the current stakes".

France, often mentioned by diplomats as a potential leader of an international stabilisation force in south Lebanon, believed such a force could be deployed only once a ceasefire and a clear political road map had been agreed, he said. Otherwise foreign troops would be unable to fulfil their mission and be needlessly put at risk, he said: "The aim is not to set up a trap for ourselves that would be a real tragedy for the international community.

"We would ruin the international process we are trying to put into effect."

France is circulating a draft UN resolution on a Lebanon ceasefire and French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy is in Lebanon for talks.

French President Jacques Chirac has said France could consider playing a major role in any force for its former protectorate, although Paris has fought shy of saying it was ready to command the force or how many troops it would offer. French defence consultant Jean-Louis Dufour said France could provide about 5,000 troops. Mr Villepin said the lack of a ceasefire and political accord was holding contributor nations back, a view echoed by Norwegian Defence Minister Anne-Grete Stroem-Erichsen.

"As a starting point Norway is positive towards such a force on condition that it is given a mandate and that its mission can be carried out effectively," she said in a statement.