Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul-Gheit strongly denounced Israel's decision to widen the military operations in Lebanon.

Abul-Gheit said that the Israeli decision would only lead to more killing and destruction.
The Israeli decision would escalate the situation rather than halting the fighting, said Abul-Gheit, calling for a peaceful solution to the crisis.

The Egyptian top diplomat said the Israeli behaviour runs counter to the efforts of the Lebanese government to head off the escalation and seek a peaceful solution of the crisis in line with the international legitimacy resolutions.

Abul-Gheit said that a decision by the Lebanese government to create favorable conditions to help all parties at the UN Security Council to approve a resolution to halt the fighting taking into account the Lebanese demands.

The Egyptian diplomacy as been working with the UN Security Council member-states and UN- Secretary General Kofi Annan to draft a UN resolution taking into account a seven -point plan presented by the Lebanese government.

Meantime,Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul-Gheit said talks with his Finnish counterpart Erkki Toumioja, currently visiting here, reflected the Egyptian, Finnish and European parties' keenness on swiftly reaching a ceasefire in Lebanon.

Abul-Gheit made the remark at a press conference on Wednesday9/8/2006with Toumioja, whose country is chairing the rotating presidency of the European Union.

The Egyptian top diplomat asserted that a draft resolution to be issued by the United Nations Security Council in this regard should be approved by the Lebanese side otherwise the situation would witness further escalation.

Abul-Gheit cited Lebanon's reservations on the resolution which were backed by the Arab side.

Abul-Gheit posted Toumioja on the Arab-Lebanese stance and means of ironing out the current crisis

Abul-Gheit underlined the Egyptian and Arab support to the Lebanese demands to amend a US-French draft resolution.

He also stressed support of the seven-point plan presented by the Lebanese government.

Abul-Gheit said that there were basic elements that must be included in any draft resolution.

He said the current UN Security Council draft resolution failed to call for the Israeli withdrawal from the Lebanese territories.

It also does not tackle the issue of the Lebanese and Israeli prisoners on equal footing, he added.

The draft text also holds Hezbollah fully responsible for the conflict, he noted.

Abul-Gheit stressed that the UN Security Council draft resolution must stipulate the withdrawal of the Israeli forces and draw up mechanisms to achieve so.

On the Israeli offensive against the Palestinians, he said that the international community was preoccupied by the Lebanese crisis, voicing hope that attention would be refocused on the Palestinian problem, which is the core of the Middle East conflict.

On any Egyptian move to withdraw ambassador from Israel, Abul-Gheit said that the Israeli attacks and the failure of the UN Security Council to tackle the crisis were the main cause of the problem.

For his part, the Finnish Minister expressed hope that the ongoing talks at the UN Security Council would lead to an immediate cessation of hostilities.