UNITED NATIONS, Aug 4: Despite appeals by the international community to the UN Security Council to stop the war in Lebanon, France and the United States were unable to bridge differences over a French draft resolution which calls for “immediate cessation of hostilities,” diplomats said on Friday.

A spokesperson for the two countries said the envoys continued to hold talks, but no breakthrough was reported until Friday afternoon.

The president of the 15-member Security Council had scheduled a meeting on Friday morning, but it was cancelled after officials failed to make any progress on the language of the draft resolution. It was not immediately clear when the meeting would be held.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who was supposed to come to New York last week and work on the resolution, abandoned her mission after Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told her that Tel Aviv would need another two weeks or more to finish its operations.

Diplomats said the US and France had neared a general agreement on the elements required for a lasting solution, including halting the fighting, disarming Hezbollah, deploying peacekeepers and creating a buffer zone in south Lebanon free of Hezbollah militants and Israeli troops.

However, the problem that has bedevilled them for days remains: they can’t agree which steps to take first.

Several western diplomats believe that no resolution could be adopted before next week when the Americans would stop blocking it.

Although British Prime Minister Tony Blair predicted a resolution “within the next few days”, so far such resolution is eluding diplomats here.

Two permanent members of the Security Council members, Russia and China, have conspicuously not spoken publicly about the efforts to halt the conflict.