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Lebanon's Prime Minister-designate Hariri, right, welcoming Fri. French Foreign Minister Kouchner in Beirut.
 (Reuters)
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Last update - 16:42 11/07/2009
France: U.S. gave Israel six months to freeze settlements
By Haaretz Service and The Associated Press
Tags: Lebanon, Hezbollah 

The United States has given Israel a six-month deadline to accede to its demand to freeze all construction in West Bank settlements, France's foreign minister told his Lebanese interlocutors during an official visit to Beirut.

Israel Radio cited a report which appeared Saturday in the Lebanese daily newspaper an-Nahar.
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According to the report, Bernard Kouchner told Lebanese officials that the U.S. could extend the six-month deadline, though Washington will not provide sponsorship to a renewed peace process if Jerusalem continues settlement construction.

On Friday, Kouchner held talks with a Hezbollah legislator in the latest European outreach to the Iranian-backed militant group.

The European Union and Britain have also sought to engage Lebanon's Hezbollah in recent months to encourage the group to abandon violence and play a constructive political role in the deeply divided country. The U.S., however, shuns the group, which it considers a terrorist organization.

Hezbollah suffered a setback in Lebanon's June 7 parliamentary election at the hands of a Western-backed coalition that held onto a majority in the legislature.

The prime minister-designate, Saad Hariri, however, is trying to form a government that could include Hezbollah and its partners, though some of Hariri's allies are vowing to strip Hezbollah of the veto power it had in the outgoing government.

Hezbollah had negotiated the power to veto government decisions after Shi'ite gunmen overran Sunni neighborhoods in Beirut in May 2008.

Kouchner discussed the efforts to form a new government in his meeting with Hezbollah lawmaker Nawaf Musawi and in separate meetings with senior Lebanese officials.

Kouchner defended his meeting with Hezbollah, which fought the 2006 Second Lebanon War with Israel and is armed and trained by Iran.

"Hezbollah is part of the parties that participated in the recent parliamentary elections. It is natural to meet with its representatives," Kouchner told reporters.

Last month, the European Union's foreign affairs chief, Javier Solana, held talks in Beirut with another Hezbollah legislator in the first meeting between a senior EU diplomat and an official of the militant group.

On Thursday, visiting British lawmakers met with the head of Hezbollah's 12-member bloc in parliament, Mohammed Raad.

Britain's Foreign Office announced in March that it has contacted Hezbollah's political wing in an attempt to reach out to its legislators. It said its ultimate aim is to encourage the militant group to turn away from violence and become a positive force in Lebanon's politics.

During Friday's meeting, Musawi said he briefed Kouchner on what he said were Israel's almost daily military flights over Lebanon in breach of a UN resolution that ended the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war.

He also spoke of the alleged Israeli spy networks in Lebanon. Lebanese authorities have reportedly arrested about 100 people suspected of spying for or collaborating with Israel in recent weeks.

Kouchner was to visit neighboring Syria on Saturday.


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      1.   Daily overflights. 00:41  |  bernie madoff 11/07/09
      2.   What business would a French coward have with Hezbollah? 01:03  |  MichaelF 11/07/09
      3.   "Hezbollah Lawmaker?" 01:04  |  MichaelF 11/07/09
      4.   Hizbollah turn political 01:49  |  Wafa 11/07/09
      5.   natura to meetl hezbollah but Sarkozy suggest to throw our FM 02:13  |  dovdevan 11/07/09
      6.   France history of supporting fascism 02:59  |  Mark Bernadiner 11/07/09
      7.   Hezbollah`s negotiating skills...? 05:53  |  Michael J 11/07/09
      8.   Michael F - Visit Yorktown 08:34  |  Mark of Lewiston 11/07/09
      9.   Nasrallah and the truth about the second Lebaness war. 08:46  |  B. Gold 11/07/09
      10.   some simple math 09:00  |  Capt Ahab 11/07/09
      11.   It Was Natural 10:19  |  Walid 11/07/09
      12.   michael f 11:23  |  Axel 11/07/09
      13.   Israel: Stop demonizing Hezbollah - your lies won`t work 12:14  |  Shlomo 11/07/09
      14.   stop divide and rule policy 12:22  |  sarah 11/07/09
      15.   To # Capt Ahab & "simple math" 12:45  |  Michael J 11/07/09
      16.   #7 B. Gold 13:47  |  Chris Linthwaite 11/07/09
      17.   to Captain Ahab 15:08  |  Stuart 11/07/09
      18.   Capt. Ahab #8 15:31  |  Alan 11/07/09
      19.   #3 dovdevan 15:42  |  BDS 11/07/09
      20.   B. Gold - The disaster that Hizbollah had suffered? 15:50  |  Natallie Durson 11/07/09
      21.   Think of post-1949 armistice outposts , settlements issue. 15:52  |  Joseph .E 11/07/09
      22.   Palestinian refugee camps 15:56  |  Arnold 11/07/09
      23.   US will soon talk to hezbollah aswel, and good for that 16:08  |  naive 11/07/09
      24.   Capt. Ahab, I`m with you 16:11  |  David James Vickery 11/07/09
      25.   U.S. gave Israel six months? US couldn`t dectate even to any.... 16:13  |  Vittorio 11/07/09
      26.   To Alan 16:14  |  David James Vickery 11/07/09
      27.   Should Israel meet the "free Corsica" lot? 16:24  |  David Plane 11/07/09
      28.   Hizzbulla Killed Hundreds of Americans 16:26  |  Jane 11/07/09
      29.   Oh me G*d, SIX months!..imagine the accelarated land-thievery 16:44  |  Esther 11/07/09
      30.   Never was a cake baked by so many cooks 16:52  |  Ran 11/07/09
      31.   #14 Jane 17:00  |  BDS 11/07/09
      32.   Jane - You got it wrong 17:20  |  Natallie Durson 11/07/09
      33.   private millitia 17:34  |  ben 11/07/09
      34.   to jane 17:37  |  ben 11/07/09
      35.   Jane #14 17:45  |  Veritas 11/07/09
      36.   #15 Esther 18:08  |  Space 11/07/09
      37.   All freezes in the FUTURE? 18:24  |  jim the mechanic 11/07/09
      38.   Stuart... 18:26  |  lior 11/07/09
      39.   # 13 david 18:39  |  Axel 11/07/09
      40.   US Surrenders 18:40  |  Mark Lincoln 11/07/09
      41.   FM Bernard Kouchner & FS David Miliband? 18:46  |  Jeff Northridge 11/07/09
      42.   Vittorio 11 18:51  |  Anthony 11/07/09
      43.   to michael f - Hezbo not against jews. 18:54  |  Kamal 11/07/09
      44.   6 months, or what? 18:56  |  Gershon Reed 11/07/09
      45.   #12 Alan 18:58  |  cheeky 11/07/09
      46.   Six months 19:05  |  Froy 11/07/09
      47.   6 month land grab- Scarier than a sale at Loehmann`s 19:09  |  stella 11/07/09
      48.   @ dovdevan 19:13  |  Matthias 11/07/09
      49.   And the settlements march on.... 19:21  |  David 11/07/09
      50.   Esther # 15 Think Of It As "Stimulus" 19:35  |  Jeff Northridge 11/07/09
      51.   Don`t you, French, attempt to be part of the "cleansing" of our 19:48  |  Bernard 11/07/09
      52.   Boycott Kouchner. 19:53  |  Arlette 11/07/09
      53.   Israel Must Give it Up 19:53  |  Concerned Citizen 11/07/09
      54.   # 17 ben private millitia 19:53  |  maoriboy 11/07/09
      55.   Jane, listen to Durson. She is Obama`s secret adviser 19:56  |  Israeli citizen 11/07/09
      56.   Mark of Lewiston : death statistics is more tyrannical than any 20:01  |  Israeli citizen 11/07/09
      57.   Froy, stella, esther, exactly who stole land? 20:32  |  jj 11/07/09
      58.   # 12 Vickery 20:34  |  The Teacher/Instruct 11/07/09
      59.   Let us all hope America is equally as demanding of disarmament 20:42  |  jj 11/07/09
      60.   to dovdevan 20:42  |  paul 11/07/09
      61.   It`s a deal, Obama! 20:44  |  Nienke 11/07/09
      62.   Obama says 20:48  |  Jennifer 11/07/09
      63.   No, the Capt is right 20:58  |  American 11/07/09
      64.   And the moon is made of Swiss cheese.. 21:00  |  Ameri 11/07/09
      65.   Stella - six month land grab 21:11  |  Harold 11/07/09
      66.   Natalie Durson 21:15  |  Walid 11/07/09
      67.   #15 Esther - accelerated natural growth 21:44  |  Jose 11/07/09
      68.   More (and more) deadlines 22:14  |  Jamil Serazi 11/07/09
      69.   33 Israeli Citizen - Not About Statistics 22:31  |  Mark of Lewiston 11/07/09
      70.   Freeze the settlements or find another patron 22:46  |  Mark Jeffery Koch 11/07/09
      71.   Durson got it wrong, Hezbollah are invaders too 22:47  |  Joe Sittizen 11/07/09
      72.   Settlements R religious=US Constitution forbids Govt 2 mix-in! 22:56  |  sam 11/07/09
      73.   US did right, bravo! 23:32  |  Ivar 11/07/09
      74.   Lewiston..visit the US Marine Memorial 00:04  |  Christopher 12/07/09
      75.   KOUCHNER ALSO BLAMED ISRAEL FOR DELAYS 00:07  |  Arik Silverman 12/07/09
      76.   6 more months to build more freeloader homes 01:07  |  Witness 12/07/09
      77.   #9 01:12  |  Harold 12/07/09
      78.   #12 and 23 01:19  |  Harold 12/07/09
      79.   #24 01:22  |  Harold 12/07/09
      80.   #26 01:25  |  Harold 12/07/09
      81.   #28 01:29  |  Harold 12/07/09
      82.   #9 That`s a non-sequitor, Stuart 01:34  |  Johnboy 12/07/09
      83.   France cowards? Right the Jews put up quite a fight in ww2 01:37  |  HA HA 12/07/09
      84.   So no peace if settlements continue to grow 02:16  |  Colin Wright 12/07/09
      85.   Harold # 49 The Question Is Where? 04:03  |  Jeff Northridge 12/07/09
      86.   US cannot give orders to a sovereign country 05:38  |  Rachel 12/07/09
      87.   The Bottom Line 05:45  |  Mark Lincoln 12/07/09
      88.   Hezbollah lawmaker 18:16  |  eastsidetrader 12/07/09
      89.   France 04:23  |  Michelle 13/07/09
      90.   The Most Important Thing 00:09  |  Dan 14/07/09
      91.   #83 HA HA 03:12  |  Kal 14/07/09
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