Annan calls emergency Security Council meeting

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan called an emergency meeting of the Security Council on Sunday after IAF airstrikes that hit the Lebanese town of Qana and killed at least 56 people, mostly children. The meeting was called at the request of Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora to seek an immediate ceasefire in Lebanon. After three weeks of war between Israel and Hizbullah, the council has yet to take a stance on the fighting, in part because the United States has refused to call for cessation of hostilities. The council was also expected to discuss a French-sponsored draft resolution circulated late Saturday. It spells out a series of steps meant to resolve the crisis, including an immediate halt to fighting, and seeks the creation of a new buffer zone in southern Lebanon that would be empty of both Hizbullah fighters and IDF troops.