OTTAWA - Former US president Bill Clinton has called for an immediate western-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah to be monitored by NATO peacekeepers, a position in stark contrast to the current US administration's own.
"We've got to try to move now to get a ceasefire," he told a crowd in Halifax at an event to discuss Canada-US relations late Wednesday, according to media reports. "I think this idea of an international force needs to be fleshed out."
NATO peacekeepers would be best equipped to do the job, he said. But the organization is overcommitted in other parts of the world, he added.
Both the White House and Israel have so far rejected a quick truce, saying they feared a return to fighting within months or weeks if Hezbollah were not disarmed in this round.
Clinton noted Israel's military strategy in the conflict, "no matter how measured", was bound to cause "innocent" casualties because "Hezbollah attacks with rockets, then hides among civilians."
Nine Canadians have died in the fierce Israeli bombardment of the country launched after the July 12 capture of two Israeli soldiers by Hezbollah militants, including a soldier posted with the United Nations, officials said.
More than 8,700 Canadians have fled the violence aboard ships headed to Cyprus and Turkey.
Clinton also said Israel should not have bombed the Beirut airport.
"I understand why (Israel) wanted to degrade (Hezbollah's) military capacity, but I question whether it was worth it to wreck the airport because the airport was the symbol of the new Lebanon."
07/27/2006 14:52 GMT