ISLAMABAD, July 31: Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri warned on Monday the UN risks losing its moral and legal authority because the Security Council has not called for an unconditional ceasefire in Lebanon.

“This could lead to a very dangerous situation,” Foreign Minister Kasuri said, drawing a comparison to the collapse of the League of Nations before World War II.

Despite the loss of lives, the Lebanon crisis could be an opportunity to settle the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, he said.

However, he warned that enforcing a UN resolution calling for the disarmament of Hezbollah — a proposal being put forward by France to the Security Council as a basis for a cease-fire — would not alone lead to peace.

He said UN resolutions calling for Israel to exchange territory seized in a 1967 war for peace with its neighbours, passed almost 40 years ago, also needed to be urgently implemented.

“Why is there a selective application?” he said. “It is this double standard that is negatively affecting not just the Arab street but the Muslim street.”

Mr Kasuri said anger against the UN was reflected in the attack on the UN office in Beirut on Sunday following the Israeli air strike in Qana.

Mr Kasuri said Pakistan has consistently stood for a viable and free Palestinian state living in peace with Israel. Pakistan does not have diplomatic relations with Israel, but in September, Mr Kasuri met with his Israeli counterpart Silvan Shalom, a diplomatic breakthrough that both sides at the time said was the result of Israel’s withdrawal from the Gaza Strip. — AP