Beirut, Asharq Al-Awsat – No action to stop Israeli aggression on Lebanon has taken place, the country’s Foreign Minister Fawzi Salloukh said yesterday.

In an interview with Asharq al Awsat, he expressed his fears the international community “wanted to punish Lebanon” and warned that something was “being hatched for the country and the region.”

So far, “all that has been discussed are ideas and plans that have yet to take shape. The [UN team] came to us with ideas that they developed and then went to Israel. But we were surprised to see them fly out to New York afterwards as they were supposed to return [to Lebanon ].”

The Lebanese Foreign Ministry did not receive any explanation for the change in the visit’s program and Salloukh added, “I don’t know [why]. Perhaps the talks in Israel weren’t successful or they needed to consult the Secretary General.”

“The European Union’s foreign policy coordinator [Javier Solana] met with the bloc’s foreign ministers and there were differences of opinions. Some countries are demanding Lebanon hand over the [two kidnapped] soldiers while others are encouraging Israel. It is as if the international community wants to destroy Lebanon and is working to destroy it, and not for the sake of the two soldiers.”

Salloukh stressed the need to reach a ceasefire “without delay” because innocent Lebanese blood was being shed. He also denied his government had received any official information on a proposal to deploy an international force in the south, adding “The Cabinet will discuss the proposal once it is on the table,”.