WORLD leaders held back from demanding an immediate ceasefire in the Middle East last night but called for the “utmost restraint” from Israel in its response to Hezbollah attacks.

Desperate to achieve a united front, leaders at the G8 summit reached a compromise by setting the conditions for a ceasefire rather than calling for an instant cessation of violence.

Those terms were the return unharmed of Israeli soldiers in Gaza and Lebanon, an end to the shelling of Israeli territory, an end to Israeli operations and the early withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza.

Russia and France dropped suggestions that Israel’s reaction had been “excessive” and signed a statement that declared that the immediate crisis resulted from the efforts of extremist forces to destabilise the region.

But Iran and Syria were not mentioned in the statement at the insistence of Russia and France. Instead, it said that “extremist elements and those that support them cannot be allowed to plunge the Middle East into chaos and provoke a wider conflict”.

The compromise was attributed last night to Tony Blair and President Putin, who spent most of their afternoon meeting trying to hammer out a possible deal.

The G8 also urged the UN Security Council to consider sending a security monitoring force to Lebanon. British officials said that it was too early to say whether British troops would be involved.

Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor, said: “We do not want to let terrorist forces and those who support them have the opportunity to create chaos in the Middle East. Therefore we place value on clearly identifying the cause and effect of events. We are convinced that the Government of Lebanon must be given all support and that the relevant UN resolutions regarding the south of Lebanon must be implemented.

“We also demand that in addition to the UN activities, another observation and security mission is established. That must be worked out through the UN.”

The G8 statement said that the return of captives and an end to rocket attacks was needed to create the “conditions for a cessation of violence”, putting the onus on Hezbollah to act first to end the fighting.

The G8 said that Israel had the right to defend itself, a position taken by the US when asked if it would call on the Israelis to halt their intense bombardment of Lebanon. But the statement added that Israel had to be mindful of “the strategic and humanitarian consequences of its actions” and should exercise utmost restraint to avoid civilian casualties, damage to infrastructure and the destabilisation of the fragile Lebanese coalition government.

The summit was anxious to prove that it was not powerless in the face of the crisis. Stark divisions had earlier been plain and leaders raced through other business in order to make a significant response. Differences on nuclear energy and climate change were played down and Russia conceded to EU demands to support in principle open energy markets.

On trade, G8 leaders agreed to give their negotiators a one-month deadline to conclude the Doha round, said José Manuel Barroso, the President of the European Commission. But the Middle East situation dominated the thoughts of leaders from Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the US.

Mr Blair said in a BBC interview: “If we don’t put ourselves as an international community firmly on the side of the moderates, whether in Lebanon, Palestine or Israel, we will rue the consequences.”

WHAT THEY SAID

“Our message to Israel is defend yourself but be mindful of the consequences, so we are urging restraint”

George W. Bush

“The only way we are going to get this situation calm and we are going to get a cessation of hostilities is if we address the reasons why the situation has arisen . . . There are extremists, backed by Iran and Syria, who want to disrupt the position in Lebanon and want to create a situation of tension and hostility there”

Tony Blair

No hostage-takings are acceptable . . . but neither is the use of full-scale force in response to these, even if unlawful, actions.”

Vladimir Putin

“It is necessary to stop all the forces which put at risk, which endanger the security, the stability and the sovereignty, of Lebanon”

Jacques Chirac

“Hitler sought pretexts to attack other nations . . . The Zionist regime is seeking baseless pretexts to invade Islamic countries”

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

“We’ve no intention of stopping this campaign until the reality has changed. Whoever hit Haifa will pay a heavy price”

Amir Peretz, Israeli Defence Minister

“We are facing a real annihilation carried out by Israel”

Ghazi Aridi, Lebanese Information Minister

“The pro-Israeli lobbyists in Washington better stock up on lip balm as they continue their promotion of murder and destruction”

Ya Libnan, Lebanese newspaper

“At a time like this, we would like to be in a position to thank free nations, which we might expect would naturally come to the side of a country under unprovoked attack from some of the most vicious terrorist organizations in the world. Unfortunately, the leader of only one nation, the United States, President George Bush, has been unequivocal in his support for Israel’s position”

The Jerusalem Post

“From up here it looks peaceful and quiet just like the rest of the planet and I think all of us are mindful as we are flying round and round this wonderful Earth that this is all we have. This is humanity’s home and hopefully one day we’ll all get along”

Dr Piers Sellers, British astronaut on the shuttle Discovery

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