United Nations Approves Resolution to End Mideast Fighting; Interview With Lebanese Consul General Mohamad El-Harake
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: And thank you all for joining us on this extraordinary Friday night. As we speak, there are dramatic new developments in two of this years's top stories. In a little bit, we will bring you full coverage of the terrorism arrests in connection with what the British say was a plot to bomb U.S.-bound airliners and kill thousands of innocent people. But I want to go straight to the high-stakes vote at the U.N. Security Council. Just moments ago, the council voted unanimously to approve a resolution to finally end the fighting and bloodshed in Lebanon and Israel, 31 days into this war. The council is still in session, as you can see from this live shot. And we should be hearing at any minute from the representatives of both Lebanon and Israel. Let's get straight to some of the specifics of the U.N. story. And we get that now from chief national correspondent John King, who has been following the diplomatic moves all day, and joins me live. John, do we know exactly what was approved?</s>JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Paula, we know the resolution was approved. We know it calls for an end to the fighting. The key question is, it doesn't say when the fighting will end. The resolution was just passed unanimously, 15-0. We are told that the Lebanese cabinet is ready to embrace it. That will come Saturday. The Israeli government is scheduled to embrace it. That, presumably, will come on Sunday. And it will fall on the secretary-general, Kofi Annan, to decide exactly when the fighting will end. He will consult with both of those governments. What happens then? The Lebanese army, assuming the two governments accept -- accept it, and set a date to end the fighting, the hostilities stop. The Israelis prepare to withdrawal, Paula, but they don't withdrawal until the Lebanese army and a new international force start to come south. So, hopefully, after the passing of this, the fighting ends within days.</s>KING (voice-over): The resolution calls for a full cessation of hostilities and the unconditional release of the two Israeli soldiers, whose kidnapping by Hezbollah a month ago sparked the confrontation. Every line was subject to tense, weeklong negotiations. And, as Secretary of State Rice joined the talks at end, both Israel and Lebanon were pressured to accept provisions they don't like. The biggest fight was over the international force that will police the deal. Lebanon wanted just the existing 2,000-strong U.N. force already in the country. Israel preferred a NATO-led force of perhaps 30,000 troops. The resolution, though, endorses expanding the existing U.N. force to a maximum of 15,000 troops, and gives it broad new powers to take all necessary action to assist the Lebanese army in creating a buffer zone in southern Lebanon, prevent Hezbollah attacks, if necessary, and enforce an embargo against armed shipments to Hezbollah.</s>CONDOLEEZZA RICE, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: This force has a very firm mandate to defend itself and to defend its mandate, in other words, to resist those who would try to keep this force from doing its job.</s>KING: The plan also calls on Lebanon to enforce existing U.N. resolutions and disarm Hezbollah, a step it has resisted for years.</s>MICHAEL O'HANLON, SENIOR FELLOW IN FOREIGN POLICY STUDIES, BROOKINGS INSTITUTION: The Lebanese government will not be able to require Hezbollah to do this. There may be some agreement by Hezbollah to at least pretend to do it, or do it partially or temporarily. But it's not going to be lasting.</s>KING: Lebanon wanted an immediate Israeli troop withdrawal. But the resolution calls for Israeli troops to leave at the earliest and in parallel with the movement of Lebanese troops and the international peacekeepers into the south. Lebanon also wanted the immediate release of Hezbollah prisoners by Israel and a promise that Israel will abandon a tiny sliver of disputed land known as Shebaa Farms. But Israel first wants proof Hezbollah will honor the deal. So, the resolution talks of encouraging prisoner releases and calls for a plan to resolve the land dispute within 30 days.</s>ZAHN: So, John, we just heard one your experts in that piece saying, although the resolution states explicitly that the Lebanese government is in charge of disarming Hezbollah, this person, Michael O'Hanlon, said they could pretend to do it temporarily; it won't last. Why would the Israelis agree to that?</s>KING: Well, Paula, that has been the debate, the core of the debate, over how robust, how big; what will the mandate be of this international force? Israel does not trust this Lebanese government to disarm Hezbollah. This -- Leb -- Israel -- Israel believes, and the United States, frankly, believes that the Lebanese government wouldn't do this before the crisis, and that you have Hezbollah now, which is more popular, especially on the Arab street, for standing up to Israel. So, there's a great deal of skepticism there. Why did Israel agree? Because it is under profound pressure to end the crisis. Some think Israel agreed, in part, because it needs a political way out. The fighting has not gone as well as Israel has -- has hoped. But Israel, we are told, will say it supports this plan, with some reservations. It wants to see proof that the international community will disarm Hezbollah, that the Lebanese government will disarm Hezbollah. So, Prime Minister Olmert, we are told, will leave himself the option to go back into military mode if this does not work out.</s>ZAHN: And, of course, no one can say tonight when this fighting will stoop, can they?</s>KING: No, they can't. That falls to the secretary-general. The expectation from all involved is perhaps as early as Monday. The Israeli government -- Beirut should go first, the Lebanese first, the Israeli government on Sunday. If they both approve it, Prime -- Kofi Annan -- excuse me -- the secretary-general, will be in touch. The hope is Monday, maybe Tuesday, at the latest, but that's a hope -- Paula.</s>ZAHN: John King, thanks more -- for the updates on some of the specifics of this resolution that just passed, unanimously, at the U.N. -- once again, the resolution calling for a full cessation of hostilities and the unconditional release of two Israeli soldiers, whose kidnapping by Hezbollah a month ago sparked the confrontation. Lebanon also wanted the immediate release of some Hezbollah prisoners by Israel, and a promise that some disputed land known as Shebaa Farms will be returned -- all of these details worked out in a negotiation that has gone on for a week now. Basically, these members of the Security Council that you been watching now have gone through them, line by line -- and both sides conceding tonight, they didn't get exactly what they want -- nevertheless, unanimously approved in the Security Council. Now, even as the U.N. negotiations reach their final stretch in New York, Israel was sending troops deeper into Lebanon, and a barrage of rockets struck Israel. Tonight, John Roberts is on the front lines of our "Top Story" along the Israeli-Lebanese border. John joins us now. So, John, we knew the prime minister was saying that he wants his government to adopt this, accept this resolution. Any early reaction from where you are?</s>JOHN ROBERTS, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Paula, as far we can tell now, there -- there is no cessation of anything, no hint of a cessation of anything. But, by the most optimistic measure, we could be within 48 hours of the end of this conflict, but, of course, there's still plenty of time for diplomacy to fall apart. And, as you mentioned, even as the United States and France were preparing to introduce this resolution for a vote in the United Nations Security Council, Israel ordered an expansion of the ground campaign. It is clear, Paula, that they're going to take whatever time they have left to try to gain as much territory as they can, and put as much pressure on Hezbollah as possible.</s>ROBERTS (voice-over): Israeli armor rolls toward the border, part of a bigger push into Lebanon, with the order now given by Israeli political leaders to expand the ground war. Whether through force or diplomacy, Israel is determined to remove the threat from Hezbollah, firing Katyusha rockets at towns and villages. More than 120 fell today, many of them on the border town of Kiryat Shmona. We spent part of the afternoon with the fire department there, chasing Katyushas as they rained down almost constantly. (on camera): We have been waiting at this fire station for about a half-an-hour now. The firefighters say they had some intelligence that Hezbollah was going to fire Katyusha rockets at about 2:00. It's now five minutes of 2:00, and the air-raid sirens have just now gone off.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're near the border. And the -- the Hezbollah are sitting on the border, and make war with us.</s>ROBERTS (voice-over): The firefighters wait for the first volley to come in. Within moments, it's time to go.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now it's two Katyushas, they come to Kiryat Shmona.</s>ROBERTS (on camera): Two Katyushas coming in?</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.</s>ROBERTS (voice-over): Reports of a house on fire, they race to their truck, speeding through the streets under continual threat of another attack. They arrive at the scene to find smoke billowing from the home. (on camera): This latest volley of Hezbollah Katyusha rockets shows just how random they are. The first one landed harmlessly in a field. The second one made a direct hit on this house at the edge of a neighborhood. As you can see, it's -- it has literally torn the entire backside of the house apart.</s>ROBERTS (voice-over): There were no injuries here. No one was home. Kiryat Shmona is almost a ghost town, and no wonder. The firefighters had not even cleared the scene when the air-raid sirens wailed again.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Very, very, very dangerous here. All the people here is running, running from Kiryat Shmona.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Come on. Go.</s>ROBERTS: And running from the rockets. (on camera): Yes, there's a shelter here.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's get in it.</s>ROBERTS (voice-over): Another air-raid siren drives us from our vehicle, forcing us to shelter in a hardened bunker nearby. (on camera): We were just leaving Kiryat Shmona when the air- raid siren went off again. So, we thought that it would be best to take cover. In this area, so many rockets have come in, that it's just not worth taking a chance. They can land literally anywhere. (voice-over): And it wasn't just us seeking cover. Moments later, the fire captain ducked inside. From the bunker, we can hear the sounds of Katyushas hitting home. The Israelis fire back with rockets of their own. Then, the air- raid siren sounds again, four times in a half-hour. It's just another typical day for these emergency workers, dodging rockets, dousing fires.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go back -- a danger zone.</s>ROBERTS: It is stressful work. And it shows in the anger firefighters have for Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hassan is very stupid man...</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... because make a war about nothing, nothing.</s>ZAHN: So, John, we're going to quickly jump back to the breaking news of the night. And that is the fact the U.N. Security Council has voted unanimously to end the hostilities between Lebanon and Israel. The question I have for you, you were saying that -- that you have gotten a sense from military officials it could take maybe 48 hours for that actually to be put in place. What I don't understand is, I am told it's going to take a good 10 days to beef up the UNIFIL forces that are already on the ground. So, how is that going to work?</s>ROBERTS: Well, I mean, that's -- that's talking about with -- the withdrawal. I was saying, in the most optimistic of circumstances, it could be as little as 48 hours before the guns go silent. As John King was mentioning, after the resolution is adopted and voted on by the Lebanese cabinet and the Israeli cabinet, then, it's up to Kofi Annan to come to the two sides and say, let's set a timetable for a cessation of hostilities. Based on what Kofi Annan has been saying for the past month, he will probably come to these two governments and say, let's end the hostilities immediately. But an end of hostilities doesn't mean that Israel immediately begins to withdrawal. The Lebanese army has to move down. They have to get another -- it's almost like 14,000 more -- no, it's more like 12,000 more troops, U.N. troops, in to southern Lebanon. That's going to take some time. They have got to bring them in, I would imagine, by ships, since they probably can't fly into the Beirut airport in any great numbers. So, it's going to take some time before that progression to the south can start. At the same time, when the Lebanese army and the expanded UNIFIL force comes in, Hezbollah will have to move out of the area as well. So, yes, Paula, it could take a number of days for those forces to come in and Israel to start withdrawing. But the guns could go silent, at the very earliest, within about 48 hours, though it's likely it may take a little longer than that.</s>ZAHN: John Roberts, thanks so much. Now our "Top Story" coverage moves on to Lebanon, where Israeli warplanes and a naval gunboat kept up sustained bombardment today. In Beirut, explosions rocked the southern suburbs all day long. Jim Clancy joins us now from there. Jim, of course, it's the middle of the night there, but any official government reaction to this vote that just came down in the Security Council?</s>JIM CLANCY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No, there's no reaction since that vote was taken. However, we talked to the senior adviser to Prime Minister Fuad Siniora about an hour before the vote was taken. Obviously, the Lebanese knew what was the context, what was the content of that resolution. They seemed satisfied. They predicted a quick approval by the government come Saturday. When asked whether or Hezbollah's two ministers in the government would go along, the -- Mohamad Chatah, the adviser, said he couldn't predict that, but he said the Lebanese people are overwhelmingly for an end to this conflict -- Paula.</s>ZAHN: So, Jim, let's talk about the mechanics of -- of what it is that the Lebanese government is going to be expected to do on the -- under this resolution. They have to disarm Hezbollah. Have you been given any insights as to how that will be done, when they have had two years under a U.N. resolution to do that, and haven't done anything at all?</s>CLANCY: Well, they have been hoping to do that for a long time. I think, when you look at this, Paula, they have got some immediate things. The disarming of Hezbollah is going to come later. The Lebanese are relieved tonight, relieved that their forces are going down to the border. If Israeli forces had stayed there, Hezbollah would have stayed there. The fighting would have continued, along with the destruction and loss of civilian life. This is a tall order for the Lebanese. They have got to take their army down there. They have to take up the security post. They know they have got to invest a lot in that army, train in that army, recruit in that army, and improve it to take over their own security. They're going to need a lot of international help on that front, and ensuring that Lebanon builds its democracy now, builds its -- its freedom and independence from regional countries.</s>ZAHN: Jim Clancy, we have got to leave it there and move on to further north of where you are. Thanks so much. Even as the diplomats were talking today, at least four people died, and dozens were wounded when Israel's warplanes struck a convoy of Lebanese military and civilian vehicles in the Bekaa Valley. Michael Ware got there just after it happened. He joins me now on the phone from the Bekaa Valley. Michael, describe to us what you saw.</s>MICHAEL WARE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Paula, what we found was a convoy of mostly civilian vehicles, led by some Lebanese army trucks and jeeps, which had clearly been struck by some kind of airstrike. From the evidence that we saw, and from speaking to some of the rescue workers and the locals, it appears that this convoy had broken off from the main body of the 1,500 civilian vehicles, who, this evening, were trying to make their way north. They have been given safe passage in a U.N.-brokered deal to escape the fighting around the besieged city of Marjayoun. When they reached the north, in the Bekaa Valley, there was many bottlenecks and traffic jams. It appears this is one of many that broke off and created a different stream. When they were hit, the military con -- military lead vehicles were struck first. Civilian vehicles behind them, then did a U-turn, trying to escape. They, too, were -- were hit. And we have at least four dead and over 20 injured, seven of whom are Lebanese soldiers -- Paula.</s>ZAHN: I understand that many of the civilians had been trapped there for many weeks. What condition were they in before this strike?</s>WARE: Listen, Paula, watching this convoy roll out as it was leaving the free-fire zone, we have been tracking it all day down there in southern Lebanon. The bombing was just relentless. Even as the convoy was moving, there were bombs falling all about, even with this supposed U.N. safe passage. And, as the vehicles moved up the road, the bombing continued up the road behind them, as if to close it. When these people came out, they had been trapped in there for weeks and weeks. It was old men, old women, fathers, mothers, little children, all crammed into any vehicle that would move. There were daughters driving old mothers. It really was heartbreaking to see the condition of these people. As we were heading north with this convoy -- we ourselves traveled with them -- the people here in the villages, as they passed, stepped out onto the street, to clap, to wave, to cheer, to hand out water to the desperate. That's what it was like. It was a stream of these people who were hit -- Paula.</s>ZAHN: And that's something that we hope to talk to Israeli officials about a little bit later on. Michael Ware, once again, the pictures graphically showing what Michael is talking about. Want to come back to the breaking news for a moment. We're going to go to a live picture of the U.N., where the Security Council just unanimously passed a resolution calling for an immediate end to the month-long fighting in Lebanon, and authorizing the deployment of some 30,000 Lebanese troops and U.N. troops to the south of the country, close to the border of Israel -- that vote coming down right here at the top of the hour. Now, as part of tonight's in-depth "Top Story" conference, I will be talking to officials from both Israel and Lebanon in just a minute. We were told it was not a perfect agreement, that both sides had to give up something. We will find out exactly what their level of satisfaction is with this final draft. And, then, a little bit later on, full coverage of tonight's other "Top Story." Please stay with us for the very latest in the alleged terrorist plot to kill thousands of innocent passengers on jets from England to the U.S.