Sign InRegister

World leaders urge end to violence

Smoke rises from Beirut's main airport after Thursday's airstrikes.

YOUR E-MAIL ALERTS

(CNN) -- Pleas for restraint on all sides of the latest Middle East violence have been expressed by governments around the world as tension continues to escalate in the region.

Leaders including U.S. President George W. Bush, France's Jacques Chirac and British Prime Minister Tony Blair have called for a peaceful solution.

U.S. President George W. Bush warned that Israel should take care not to weaken Lebanon's government, and stressed Syria "needs to be held to account."

"The democracy of Lebanon is an important part of laying a foundation of peace in that region," Bush said.

"We've worked very hard to get Syria out of Lebanon" through various U.N. resolutions.

"Israel has a right to defend herself," Bush said, and Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad "needs to show some leadership toward peace."

British Prime Minister Tony Blair said world leaders must press the case for long-term solutions to strife in the region, The Associated Press reported.

"I want to emphasize just how serious I think this is," he said. "I entirely understand the desire, and indeed need, for Israel to defend itself properly, and I also understand the plight of Lebanon and the Lebanese government, not to say the many Palestinians that suffer as well."

Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora met in Beirut with ambassadors from the United Nations Security Council and spoke with President Bush by telephone, the prime minister's office said.

According to a statement from Siniora, "President Bush affirmed his readiness to put pressure on Israel to limit the damage to Lebanon as a result of the current military action, and to spare civilians from harm," AP reported. The Bush administration did not comment on the conversation.

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said he believed escalation of the violence was inevitable unless the Israeli soldiers were returned, AP said.

"The international community does share a view about what the ultimate solution is," he said. "The real secret to that is how we in the international community can find some way of empowering on both sides, forces of moderation and forces that are inclined to negotiation rather than violence."

France: President Jacques Chirac said on Friday that Israel's military offensive against Lebanon was "totally disproportionate."

"One could ask if today there is not a sort of will to destroy Lebanon, its equipment, its roads, its communication," he said, according to AP.

However, Chirac said he believes another country, likely Syria, was behind actions by militant groups Hamas and Hezbollah. "I have the feeling, if not the conviction, that Hamas and Hezbollah wouldn't have taken the initiatives alone," Chirac said.

"There is, without any doubt, an action which must be discussed with Syria," the French president said. Rockets fired on Israel by Hezbollah and Hamas are "inadmissible, unacceptable and irresponsible," Chirac said.

Saudi Arabia accused Hezbollah guerrillas -- without naming them -- of "uncalculated adventures" that could precipitate a new Middle East crisis.

A Saudi official quoted by the state Saudi Press Agency said the militant group's actions were not legitimate, and Hezbollah alone bore responsibility for resolving the crisis. Hezbollah's actions could lead to "an extremely serious situation which could subject all Arab nations and its achievements to destruction," the official was quoted as saying.

Russian President Vladimir Putin called for a halt to military activity. "We assume that all sides in conflict should immediately end their military action. That should be the starting point for resolving all other problems," he said, according to AP.

Daniel Ayalon, Israeli ambassador to the United States, called the Hezbollah attacks "a major, major escalation" by the organization.

"It goes to show that there is no timetable," Ayalon said during a speech in Washington. "We will have to continue with the operation until there is no capability of the Hezbollah to do what they are doing." Syria

Bashar Ja'afari, Syrian ambassador to the United Nations, was asked by CNN International's Finnoula Sweeney what his country was doing to ease tensions.

"Syria is deploying a huge effort within the Arab circles ... as well as at the international level through direct contacts. We are doing our utmost. Saturday, there will be a meeting of Arab foreign affairs ministers in Cairo to discuss the Israeli escalation."

Asked what Syria is saying to Hezbollah, Ja'afari replied, "I think the Lebanese resistance as well as the Palestinian resistance are free on their own lands and they are doing their national resistance against foreign occupation.

"They don't need Syria, they don't need Egypt, they don't need anybody but the justice."

Lebanon Interior Minister Ahmed Fatfat called Israel's attack on Beirut's international airport a "general act of war." Fatfat said the attacks had nothing to do with Hezbollah, but was instead an attack against the country's "economic interests," especially its tourism industry.

Mohamad Chatah, an adviser to Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Sinora, said his government has struggled to assert its authority since Syria withdrew troops from the country last year. Meanwhile, Hezbollah makes up "a significant minority that has weapons," he said. "No question that we are against this kind of violence," Chatah said. But he added, "Many people in Lebanon have very strong views against what Israel has been doing."

Iran's Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said the United Nations and international community should intervene immediately to stop Israel's military offensive in Lebanon.

"The situation in Palestine and Lebanon is worrying and dangerous," Mottaki said, AP reported.

"The international community and the United Nations must intervene to stop this crime," he said.

"We noted the opinions of the Greece, given its very good relations with countries of the Middle East. And we discussed the actions that must be taken by all sides to reduce the tension."

Story Tools

Click Here to try 4 Free Trial Issues of Time!

Home Page

Get up-to-the minute news from CNN

CNN.com gives you the latest stories and video from the around the world, with in-depth coverage of U.S. news, politics, entertainment, health, crime, tech and more.

Home Page

Get up-to-the minute news from CNN

CNN.com gives you the latest stories and video from the around the world, with in-depth coverage of U.S. news, politics, entertainment, health, crime, tech and more.