French President Jacques Chirac said on Friday that he hoped a UN resolution for the Mideast ceasefire would be adopted "as quickly as possible," according to a statement issued by his office .

"The president of the Republic wants France to work towards the adoption of a Security Council resolution as quickly as possible," said the statement.

The resolution should state the commitment of the international community to an immediate ceasefire based on a political agreement supported by the deployment of an international force under UN mandate, it said.

Chirac on Friday presided over a one-hour ministerial meeting, attended by Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin, Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy, Defense Minister Michele Alliot-Marie and Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy.

Meanwhile, diplomatic efforts to end the Israel-Hezbollah hostilities continue.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Friday that she would be back in the Middle East to seek an "enduring" ceasefire that would end Hezbollah's control of southern Lebanon. She is expected to arrive in Israel on Saturday, Israeli media reported.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair on Friday left for Washington to met U.S. President George W. Bush on the Mideast crisis. Blair's U.S. tour aims to seek a UN resolution to end the Mideast violence, the prime minister's spokesman said.

The Israeli offensive against the Shi'ite Lebanese Hezbollah militia continued into its 17th day on Friday, killing more than 400 Lebanese people to date, most of them civilians.

During the 17-day conflict, 33 Israeli soldiers have been killed, and nearly 20 Israeli civilians have died in Hezbollah's rocket attacks on Israel's northern towns, according statistics from Israel's military.

The hostilities erupted after Hezbollah crossed the border and captured two Israeli soldiers.

Source: Xinhua