Ceasefire hopes rise as thousands march in London against war

[G2099]

he UN Security Council met last night to review the text of a resolution that might bring about a ceasefire in Lebanon within days, but as the bloodshed continued, thousands of protesters marched in London and other capitals to demand an immediate halt to the fighting.

Tony Blair, who delayed his holiday to help draw up the resolution, called it "a first step" last night. The Prime Minister held out the hope of "the cessation of hostilities literally within the next couple of days", but a formal vote is not expected immediately, and a Hizbollah cabinet minister in Lebanon, Mohammed Fneish, said there would be no ceasefire while Israeli soldiers remained on Lebanese soil.

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/article1215981.ece

[scarletwoman]

1. From what I've seen so far, not much reason to get hopes up.

Israel says it will continue bombing while it "studies" the resolution, Hizballah says it won't stop firing rockets until all Israeli soldiers get out of Lebanon, Israel says it won't pull its troops out.

This resolution isn't going to do squat.

sw