BEIRUT, Aug 11: Beirut asked the United Nations and the five permanent Security Council members on Monday to stop Israel from carrying out threats of retaliatory air strikes against Lebanon, a foreign ministry official said.

The call came during separate meetings by Foreign Minister Jean Obeid with the heads of diplomatic missions of the permanent members as well as the representative of UN chief Kofi Annan.

“Obeid asked the heads of the diplomatic missions to relay the position of Lebanon to their respective governments,” the official said.

Lebanon called on the five powerful states to “make the necessary efforts to stop Israel from carrying out the measures it has adopted late on Sunday when its inner security cabinet decided limited air raids on Lebanon,” he said.

Obeid received the Chinese charge d’affaires, Huang Chang Qing, before meeting with the US and British ambassadors, Vincent Battle and Richard Kinchen, ministry officials said.

He also met with French charge d’affaires Christian Testot, Russian Ambassador Boris Bolotin and the UN representative, Staffan de Mistura.

After the meeting at the foreign ministry, Kinchen told reporters Britain denounces the escalation at the border and called on all parties to observe self-restraint.

Bolotin said “we had hoped that calm would continue to prevail, and this latest escalation is worrying. We call for utmost self restraint.”

“Obeid informed me of his desire to avoid escalation in the region and he also expressed concern for the Israeli violations,” said Bolotin.

Obeid was due to hold a press conference later on Monday.

Beirut on Sunday sent an urgent protest to the Security Council over Israel’s “aggression, threats and its continuous and provocative violations of the airspace and sovereignty of Lebanon,” according to a senior foreign ministry official.

Low-flying Israeli jets shook Beirut residents awake shortly after 1:00 am Monday (2200 GMT) with loud supersonic booms in an apparent mock raid that came after threats of “retaliatory options” by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.

On Sunday, Israeli warplanes struck near the village of Tayr Harfa in southern Lebanon, after an Israeli was killed and five wounded in cross-border fire from the Shia militia Hezbollah.

Israel itself lodged a complaint with the Security Council on Saturday against Syria’s support for Hezbollah.—AFP