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EU urges 'immediate cease-fire'

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Italian Foreign Minister Massimo d'Alema says "nobody would send their own soldiers."

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BRUSSELS, Belgium -- A European Union draft statement being discussed by EU foreign ministers Tuesday calls for "an immediate cease-fire" in the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah militants, an EU official said.

"The (EU) Council calls for an immediate cease-fire," the document said, according to The Associated Press.

All EU ministers have to agree on the statement before it is issued, an EU official told AP on condition of anonymity.

Britain has so far been hesitant to call for an immediate halt to the fighting.

Finnish Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja has urged all EU ministers to sign up to a statement. Most EU ministers called for an immediate cease-fire, but British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett has said "a call for an end to the violence" should be an element of a long-term peace plan.

German Foreign Minister Walter Steinmeier said Germany was ready to call for an immediate cease-fire.

"The international community has now the possibility to give directions for a cease-fire," he said.

Most Arab and European states say a cease-fire must take place before any peace deal can be implemented, while the U.S. and Israel insist the Lebanese army must be deployed and efforts to disarm Hezbollah must be under way before an official cease-fire can be declared.

The composition and mandate of the international force is also a thorny issue. The United States and Israel would prefer a European force, while Lebanon wants to expand the existing UNIFIL force. And it remains unclear whether the force would have the authority to fight against Hezbollah.

Italy, France, Finland, Sweden and Spain are considering sending troops to Lebanon, according to Reuters.

U.S. Secretary of State Condelleeza Rice said on Monday a cease-fire to end the 21-day-old war between Israel and Hezbollah guerrillas could be forged this week, but Israel rejected any immediate truce.

The EU's 25 states have so far been divided, with Britain following the U.S. line that any cease-fire must be "sustainable" -- seen by critics as a green light for Israel to go on bombing Hezbollah -- while a large majority of member states want an immediate cease-fire.

But a British Foreign Office spokesman told Reuters divisions were being bridged. "Everybody has agreed on the need for the violence to stop as soon as it possibly can and for there to be a sort of assistance in place to make any cease-fire lasting."

French, Swedish and Irish diplomats insisted the EU meeting had to call for an immediate cease-fire.

"We don't see how we can start anything without that," a Swedish diplomat said. Another envoy said Britain would "pay a heavy political price" if it continued to oppose the call.

The Czech Republic is one of the few EU states openly opposing an immediate cease-fire.

EU diplomats said New York, not Brussels, would be the center of efforts to solve the conflict and EU states would wait for the United Nations to decide on an international force's mandate before making any commitment to contribute.

A U.N. meeting to plan a new peacekeeping force for Lebanon was postponed indefinitely on Monday.

Tuesday's EU meeting is also set to look at humanitarian aid efforts and the evacuation of remaining EU citizens in Lebanon.

European Parliament leaders are to meet on Tuesday to press the foreign ministers to call for an immediate cease-fire.

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