Today's Date:

THE MINISTER – We have been asking for a Security Council resolution as soon as possible, and in fact we have tabled the French proposal which is now circulating around the various countries which presents a specific diplomatic timetable starting with an immediate cessation of hostilities.

THE MINISTER – You know, when you know the figures – one million displaced persons, 210,000 refugees, hundreds and hundreds of deaths, tragedies such as that of Qana, the extraordinary violence in Haifa due to Hezbollah – what we feel like saying is that every hour that passes is an hour wasted.

THE MINISTER – In any case, I noted with pleasure, two days ago, that in Brussels, all of the European Union, and therefore including the UK, agreed to say that what was necessary was an immediate cessation of hostilities. And I thank Margaret Beckett for working for that…

THE MINISTER – …since it's important to differentiate: immediate cessation of hostilities – this is what is in the French resolution – and political agreement which is necessary for a sustainable ceasefire.

So let's not play with the words. When you're on the ground and you're under Hezbollah missile attack, in Haifa, or are being bombed by the Israelis in southern Lebanon, it's obvious you want it to stop. There has to be an immediate cessation of fighting. It's what we're asking for first.

THE MINISTER – In any case, at the moment we're working together with the Americans in particular to seek an agreement as soon as possible for this resolution.

THE MINISTER – Well, we worked all night with the Americans to try and find a solution.

In fact, where is the problem? Well, it's on a very specific subject. We believe that it's not possible to send a multinational force under UN mandate while there is no political agreement between all the parties allowing a sustainable ceasefire. In other words, we don't want our soldiers to go and disarm Hezbollah, quite simply because a purely military solution is not possible. Israel realizes that now.

THE MINISTER – Well, that is precisely what I'm saying. That is the present issue. Some would like the Israeli army to be able to stop and to be replaced by an international force tasked with implementing UNSCR 1559, that is the disarmament of Hezbollah.

But I repeat and I'll probably repeat this again during the coming minutes: we don't believe that there is a purely military solution to disarming Hezbollah. Why? Because we realize today that the Israelis who know every square metre of the region, aren't managing to do this rapidly and easily. How would you want a foreign army that is not as familiar with the land as the Israeli army is, to be able to achieve this? However, we believe that we can participate in an international force as soon as there is a political agreement.

THE MINISTER – We are prepared, in due time, when there is a political agreement, to participate in this force. I saw that the British and Americans did not wish to participate. I saw that the Germans did not wish to participate. We, because we have historic, centuries-old and emotional relations with Lebanon, we believe that we could participate under one condition – I repeat this – that first there be a political agreement. We need that to be first, because otherwise it's getting caught up in an extremely dangerous situation. We don't want to have an Iraqi-style situation. What's going on in Iraq is nothing but a sectarianization of the conflict. We don't want that.

THE MINISTER – Today we are in an extremely different situation and that's the problem. What's been happening in the world for the past three or four years – and I realize this because I went to Beirut three times in 10 days and I went on a tour through the Middle East – is an increasing radicalization of public opinion on both sides, whether it's Arab or Israeli public opinion.

So we have to be careful not to progressively turn this conflict, after the destabilization of Lebanon, into a conflict between the Muslim world and the West.

That's why we didn't want the multinational force to be under NATO command as had been requested by some to start with. We prefer this to be a multinational force under UN mandate.

Beware of provoking a war of civilizations.

THE MINISTER – Well, obviously. The forces present in this multinational force must not solely be European forces. We shall need to find forces that belong to the moderate Arab world.

THE MINISTER – Well, first of all, we were the co-authors of UNSCR 1559, with the Americans essentially, and everybody knows the objective is to disarm Hezbollah. But the only way to do that is politically, not militarily. We wrote this in UNSCR 1559. You're right, the Siniora government hasn't been able to implement 1559. However, the Siniora government has just established a seven-point plan that was unanimously accepted by all members of the Lebanese government, including Hezbollah members. It's called the Ta'if Accord, which provides in particular for the disarmament of the militias.

Of course, we can say that Hezbollah agrees, because they are today part of the Lebanese government.

THE MINISTER – First of all, I note with pleasure that in the US, several times this year, there have been articles in the press saying that France was one of the greatest allies, not to say the greatest ally, of the US in combating terrorism. And therefore my country is totally mobilized to combat terrorism. But if you want to prevent terrorism, the best solution is to understand the civilization and the culture, to listen to the complaints and humiliation and the fears of the countries where terrorism originates. This is important.

THE MINISTER – I hope so. In any case, we have to understand this, and in fact I remember Condoleezza Rice's speech at the University of Cairo on cultural diversity, on the necessary exchange between civilizations. War between civilizations, war between cultures is something which threatens us. We must not believe in it, we must fight it as hard as possible, first of all through political means.

THE MINISTER – Well, this is why we are on the ground, Condoleezza Rice, the other foreign ministers. Because so long as there is a hope of peace, one must pursue it.

THE MINISTER – There will be no French military forces so long as there's no political agreement. I thought you'd understood me, since it's what I've been repeating since the beginning of the programme. There will be no French military forces so long as there is no political agreement and no sustainable ceasefire.

I met the Iranian foreign minister the other day in Beirut...

THE MINISTER – I think that for a Lebanese civilian the ideal would be that there would be no war on his land. I'm sure that's the best possible thing for him. And what's also necessary for a Lebanese civilian is to try and open secure humanitarian corridors. It's not the case. We are asking the Israeli authorities not to bomb the humanitarian convoys. We are asking the Israeli authorities to authorize the opening of humanitarian corridors in the south, in particular towards Tyre and Naqura. We're asking the Israeli authorities to open land corridors between the south and Beirut. That's what Lebanese civilians are looking for today.

THE MINISTER – Well, I see that the Americans today are starting to come round to the idea of a cessation of hostilities. We can't do anything else and I see that Margaret Beckett, the day before yesterday in Brussels, asked for an immediate cessation of hostilities which hadn't been the case in Rome. So I do feel – even if the Israelis don't want this – that the international community, in a generalized way is demanding this, because the pictures we see on television, the civilian victims, the children of Qana, Haifa and elsewhere are unacceptable.

THE MINISTER – Absolutely not. On the contrary, I think that the Germans and the British – and I would really like to thank them – have accepted the text of the Finnish presidency, which is very close to the French resolution. That is, cessation of hostilities, political agreement and an international force.

This is a major element, this meeting of the EU in Brussels.

THE MINISTER – No, not at all. We're working together with the Americans. There's no competition here. On the contrary, we want to work together. And it's true that it's good to exchange our views, and that's what we're doing at present at the Security Council.

It's what I heard in Beirut, the first time, and also in Cairo, in Amman and what Mr Moussa – the Secretary-General of the Arab League – told me: I believe it's important to exchange our views and to be able to table a joint resolution at the UN Security Council as quickly as possible.

THE MINISTER – No, what I said, and what seems to be important today is to make clear what I've said about Iran. President Chirac said this on 26 July: Iran has a share of responsibility in this conflict. Consequently, I say that it has a share in finding a solution.

Iran wishes to appear as a country which is playing an important role. And I say this to Iran: "Live up to your responsibilities". I'd like to explain things. I believe that we should talk now to Iran to say: "You have an opportunity to show that you want to re-establish ties of trust with the international community. If you don't, then obviously it's going to be over." France, because we are chairing the UN Security Council, asked the Security Council a few days ago to take sanctions against Iran if it doesn't give a positive answer to what we're proposing to them on the nuclear question.

THE MINISTER – We were shocked by the words of Mr Ahmadinejad, and I was the first Western foreign minister to condemn what Mr Ahmadinejad said. As we speak, we are perhaps a few days away from a dreadful flare-up. So we must do everything to explain to all those involved, and so to Iran, that it is necessary to urge de-escalation and, above all, forge ties of trust between Iran and the international community on the Israeli-Lebanese issue and on the nuclear issue while there is still time. The Americans and British agree with us when we make positive proposals to Iran. And therefore we have to be coherent and up until 22 August so long as the Iranians haven't said "no" to our proposals, so long as the hand of the West, the international community is outstretched, they have to take it. If they don't take it, it would obviously be very serious. We have to be very firm and very rigorous with respect to the Iranian issue.

THE MINISTER – That's precisely what I was saying. We must, at all costs, prevent this. It would be an absolute catastrophe. So before saying that that's what it's all about, we must do everything to avoid it. We have to meet them and say to them that they have a choice between, on the one hand, the clash you're talking about that would have dreadful consequences for decades, and on the other, peace and trust amongst us.

My role today, the role of all the foreign ministers today and the international community is to say to them: "Take our hand while there's still time." Otherwise, it would be the beginning of sanctions under Chapter 7, Article 41, of the UN Charter.

THE MINISTER – It's a moment of paramount importance because you realize it can turn into the clash you were talking about between the West and the Muslim world. Or, on the contrary, it may be the opportunity to establish a great political and economic plan. One thing mustn't be forgotten: Hamas in the Palestinian territories, Hezbollah in Lebanon are deriving their popularity from the poverty, humiliation of the population. And therefore, it is in our interest to assist the Palestinian Authority of Mahmoud Abbas. It's in our interest to help Fouad Siniora's government. It's above all in our interest to help schools, universities, the training of young people, hospitals and public health.

And this calls for money from the West but also, and I'd like to say so here in your programme, also money from the Arab States of the Gulf who must understand that they too need to help these countries.

THE MINISTER – Precisely, this is why I believe we have to go back to what we were saying at the beginning. There are those who believe there could be a military solution. Do you really believe in a military solution between the West and the Muslim world? That would be absolutely traumatic and I hope that nobody can believe this is a solution.

On the other hand, we must encourage exchanges, knowledge, respect, including with those who are the most remote from us. And we have to preach this to the very end. France, President Chirac has always conveyed this message.

So there has to be a political agreement. We must help the Lebanese achieve it and then, of course, if there's a clash, due to those who don't understand anything of this, lessons will have to be learned. But that would be tragic.

THE MINISTER – We're working day and night for the sustainable ceasefire to happen as soon as possible. I believe in it more than ever, after my tour in the Middle East, after my return from Beirut. I cannot give you a date, but I can tell you simply that I think it will be as soon as possible. I see with pleasure at the end of the programme that you are talking about a ceasefire and an international force. That's exactly the message I wanted to deliver./.