World

Annan Demands Hezbollah Free Israelis

August 28, 2006 / 10:42 AM EDT / CBS/AP

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan demanded on Monday that Hezbollah release two captured Israeli soldiers to the international Red Cross, and that Israel lift its air and sea blockade of Lebanon.

Visiting Beirut on the first leg of an 11-day Mideast tour, Annan called U.N. resolution 1701 "a fixed menu."

"It's not a buffet ... It's not an a la carte menu where you choose and pick. We have to implement 1701 in its entirety and I hope that all parties will pay attention and act in that spirit," he said. "Without the full implementation of resolution 1701, I fear the risk is great for renewal of hostilities."

Annan said he was renewing his "call for the abducted soldiers to be free," and urged Hezbollah to transfer them to the Lebanese government "or a third party" under the auspices of the international Red Cross.

"We, the U.N., will be prepared to play a role if we are required to do so. And I offer our services," he said.

Annan also urged Israel to lift its blockade on Lebanon. "I'm working with them and a number of international partners to see to it that this is done," he said.

Israel said a resolution of the conflict must include the release of its two soldiers captured by Hezbollah militants in a cross-border raid that triggered the conflict last month.

"So long as this issue with the two soldiers is not solved, the whole thing is of little significance," Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said in Germany. "Our sovereignty has been infringed and if this resolution does not make that good, then we still have this problem."

Annan met with Mohammed Fneish, one of two Hezbollah ministers in Prime Minister Fuad Saniora's Cabinet, in the first direct contact with the guerrilla group during the U.N. chief's Lebanon visit.

Annan also met separately with Saniora and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, who serves as Hezbollah's de facto negotiator. The secretary-general said the Lebanese government assured him it would "faithfully" implement the cease-fire resolution.

Annan was also expected to visit Israel, and Hezbollah's main supporters, Syria and Iran, during his 11-day tour.

In other developments:

Turkey's Cabinet decided Monday to send troops to Lebanon as part of the expanded United Nations force in the south. If its parliament approves, Turkey would become the only Muslim country with relations with Israel that has proposed sending peacekeepers.

Italy's Cabinet approved sending 2,500 troops to serve in a strengthened U.N. peacekeeping mission in southern Lebanon. It's the largest contingent promised so far by any country.

France, saying the European Union did not do enough to end the "devastating" conflict, urged Israel to lift its air and sea blockade of Lebanon, which has kept out all but a trickle of supplies.

Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah said in a TV interview that he would not have ordered the capture of two Israeli soldiers if he had known it would lead to such a war. "If I had known ... that the operation would lead to such a war, would I do it? I say no, absolutely not," he told Lebanon's New TV station.