Blair calls for intervention
ST. PETERSBURG, Russia — British Prime Minister Tony Blair and U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan called today for the deployment of international forces to stop Hezbollah from bombing Israel, an issue that has overshadowed the summit of world leaders.
President Bush, not realizing his remarks were being picked up by a microphone, bluntly expressed his frustration with the actions of Hezbollah, a militant Islamic group believed backed by Iran and Syria that is engaged in escalating warfare with Israel.
"See the irony is that what they need to do is get Syria to get Hezbollah to stop doing this (expletive) and it's over," Bush told Blair in a discussion before the Group of Eight leaders began their lunch.
Bush also suggested that Annan call Syrian President Bashar Assad to "make something happen."
To help stop the fighting, the European Union in Brussels announced it is considering deploying a peacekeeping force in Lebanon. France, meanwhile, said it is sending Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin to Beirut to express support for Lebanon's government.
"The blunt reality is that this violence is not going to stop unless we create the conditions for the cessation of violence," Blair said.
"The only way we're going to get a cessation of hostilities is if we have the deployment of an international force into that area that can stop the bombardment over into Israel and therefore gives Israel a reason to stop its attacks on Hezbollah," Blair said.
Mark Regev, a spokesman for Israel's Foreign Ministry said that his country would welcome a more energetic and decisive international effort to bring about immediate and full implementation of Security Council resolutions 1559 and 1680, which call for the disarmament of Hezbollah.
President Vladimir Putin said this morning that Russia would consider contributing troops to an international peacekeeping force in the Middle East if the United Nations approves deployment.
"So far there is no decision yet on sending peacekeeping troops. When there will be a decision we will consider whether to take part," Putin said.
Annan also appealed to Israel to abide by international law, spare civilian lives and infrastructure.
"We should not inflict any more suffering on them," Annan said. "Both parties should bear that in mind and respect international humanitarian law."
Annan said the United Nations was considering evacuation plans for U.N. dependents from Lebanon, while Blair said Britain was looking at the possibility of creating an air bridge for its citizens.
The comments by Blair and Annan came a day after world leaders forged a unified response at their G-8 summit to the crisis in the Middle East, blaming Hezbollah and Hamas for the escalating violence and recognizing Israel's right to defend itself — although they called on the Jewish state to show restraint.
"I am most pleased that the leaders came together to say, look, we condemn violence. We honor innocent life," Bush said before a meeting with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. "For the first time, we've really begun to address with clarity the root causes of the conflict ... and that is terrorist activity — namely Hezbollah, that's housed and encouraged by Syria."
Bush also asserted that the militant Islamic group is financed by Iran. However, the G-8 statement makes no mention of Syria or Iran. Russian President Vladimir Putin told reporters that Russia blocked the effort to name Syria.
"If we don't have enough grounds to blame somebody, we cannot ... put them in documents on such a serious state level just based on assertions," Putin said.
Bush's remarks at lunch were picked up by the summit's closed-circuit television, which was filming the leaders sitting down to eat. Normally, the images are transmitted with sound that does not allow reporters to pick out individual comments. But in this case, a microphone picked up Bush's comments to Blair.
