UNITED NATIONS, Aug 5: The United States and France have completed a draft UN Security Council resolution on an end to fighting and a framework for a political settlement between Israel and Lebanon.

The full 15-member council has to review and accept the text. A vote is anticipated on Monday or Tuesday.

Following are highlights from the draft:

Calls for a full cessation of hostilities based upon “immediate cessation by Hezbollah of all attacks and the immediate cessation by Israel of all offensive military operations;”

Requests, UNIFIL, the UN Interim Fore in Lebanon, after fighting has stopped, to monitor implementation of the truce and help ensure humanitarian access to civilian populations.

Expresses its intention, after agreement from Lebanon and Israel to a “political framework for a lasting solution,” to authorize deployment of an international force to support the Lebanese armed forces;

Calls for Israel and Lebanon to support a permanent cease-fire and agree on a long-term solution based on the following principles and elements:

— strict respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Israel and Lebanon;

— full respect for the Blue Line (US drawn boundary between Lebanon and Israel) by both parties;

— delineation of the international borders of Lebanon, especially in those areas where the border is disputed or uncertain, including in the Shebaa Farms area;

— security arrangements to prevent the resumption of hostilities, including the establishment between the Blue Line and the Litani River of a buffer zone free of any armed personnel other than those of the Lebanese force and of UN- mandated international forces.

— disarmament of all armed groups in Lebanon so there will be no weapons or authority in Lebanon other than that of the Lebanese state;

— establishment of an international embargo on the sale or supply of arms and related material to Lebanon except as authorized by its government;

— provision to the United Nations of remaining maps of land mines in Lebanon in Israel’s possession;

The draft asks the U.N secretary-general to secure agreements in principle from Lebanon and Israeli on the above elements for a long-term solution.

It also asks the secretary-general to develop proposals on the delineation of Lebanon’s borders with Israel and Syria that are disputed or uncertain, including the Shebaa Farms and report to the Security Council within 30 days.

The preamble but not the operative part of the draft emphasized the need to address the “the unconditional release of the abducted Israeli soldiers” and encourages “efforts aimed at settling the issue of the Lebanese prisoners detained in Israel.” —Reuters