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"We are now very, very close to an agreement and our aspiration is to have a vote at the end of the afternoon," Bolton said.
At 9:45 a.m., the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council went into session.
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrived earlier and met with U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan.
Although the United States and France have agreed on wording for the proposed resolution, they will likely need to alter the language to win approval from the Israelis, the Lebanese and other council members, a senior State Department official said.
Crafting the language is a delicate operation, the official added. "It is about making the language right and making sure both parties can implement it."
The resolution calls for the withdrawal of Israeli troops from southern Lebanon to coincide with a Lebanese deployment of troops in the area, the official said.
Meanwhile, diplomatic efforts in the region were moving quickly, with U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs David Welch shuttling between Lebanon and Israel.
A main question is whether Lebanon's government will sign off on a resolution that gives a U.N. mission the mandate to use force, diplomatic sources said Thursday.
Sticking points have been Lebanon's insistence on an immediate Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon -- a move Israel says it won't make without guarantees of its border security -- and the timing of the deployment of government and U.N. troops to southern Lebanon.
Annan prodded the Security Council to act by week's end, "to save civilians on both sides from the nightmare they have endured for the past four weeks." |
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