French President Jacques Chirac pressed the case for an international conference to restart the stalled Mideast peace process in a phone conversation Friday with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

Chirac and Ehud Olmert also discussed the situation in Lebanon and agreed to stay in close contact over the matter, presidential spokesman Jerome Bonnafont said.

The French leader urged "full implementation" of a new U.N. resolution aiming to cement a cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah fighters after 34 days of deadly clashes earlier this year.

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Its provisions include a call for Israel to pull its troops out of southern Lebanon.

At the United Nations this week, Chirac discussed the French proposal for the conference with U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, U.S. President George W. Bush and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas

On Thursday, Arab leaders and the United Nations secretary-general urged the UN Security Council to get involved in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, saying the war in Lebanon showed the danger of leaving the core
Middle East dispute unresolved.

Israel objected, saying there were enough forums outside the council dealing with the issue. The United States agreed and prevented the Security Council from issuing a closing statement, diplomats said.

Still, the Arab League and Greece, which holds the council presidency, managed to gather foreign ministers, including U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, for a debate on reviving the peace process and ending all Arab-Israeli conflicts.

"Like no other conflict, the Arab-Israeli conflict carries a powerful symbolic and emotional charge for people throughout the world," Secretary-General Kofi Annan said. "And our continued failure to resolve this conflict calls into question the legitimacy and the effectiveness of this council itself."

He said the Security Council's role in bringing about a cease-fire in the Lebanese-Israeli conflict this summer showed it could play a role in the search for peace in the region.

Saudi Arabia's foreign minister said Thursday that Arab countries have reached a "very significant" consensus after the recent war in Lebanon that there must be a new start with fresh ideas to the Middle East peace process.

Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal of Saudi Arabia and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, in separate interviews, spoke of the urgency for an "end game" in the Middle East to resurrect the process which has been bogged down for three years.

At a Security Council meeting later Thursday, Bahrain's Foreign Minister Shaikh Khalid Bin Ahmed Al-Khalifa presented the Arab League's proposal that asked Annan to prepare a report, including a time frame, on means to resume direct talks among all the parties and what role the Security Council and other bodies should play.

"If we lose this chance, we will all be losers," Sheikh Khaled told the council. "We have a good chance now to obtain peace and should not allow it to slip away."

He reiterated the long-standing Arab demands that a final settlement include Israel's full withdrawal from the Palestinian territory, resolving the problem of Palestinian refugees, and the creation of a Palestinian state with its capital in Jerusalem.

Rice as well as British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett urged foreign ministers to support efforts of the Quartet of Middle East mediators, which includes the United States, Russia, the European Union and the United Nations.

"Together, with other members of the Quartet, we have called upon the Palestinian Authority to commit to the three principles of the Quartet: renouncing terror and violence, recognizing the right of Israel to exist and accepting previous agreements and obligations," Rice said.

Rice told reporters later she planned to travel to the Middle East soon to speak to moderate Arab leaders in an effort to solve the Arab-Israeli conflict. But she gave no date.

Only Israel sent its UN ambassador, Dan Gillerman, rather than Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni to the meeting, chaired by Greek Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis.

Gillerman said Israel was hesitant in attending the meeting because "our experience has not always shown that this forum was helpful in generating peace."

Negotiations, he said, should be among the parties themselves.