The UN ambassadors of the United States and France on Friday continued their exclusive discussions on the text of a Security Council resolution on the Mideast crisis.

The negotiations, which have lasted since early this week, are based on a France-sponsored draft that would demand an "immediate cessation of hostilities" and call for "full respect" of the Blue Line, a border line drawn by the United Nations after Israel pulled out its troops from south Lebanon in 2000.

The two sides are currently at loggerheads over the timing of the deployment of a new international force for Lebanon.

France wants a cessation of hostilities and a political settlement between Israel, Hezbollah and the Lebanese government before deploying the force while the United States pushes for an early deployment of peacekeepers to help impose a ceasefire.

A second sticking point is the call for "cessation of hostilities" proposed by France. The United States prefers using a broader term, said UN diplomats.

Ghana's UN Ambassador Nana Effah-Apenteng, the council's president for August, said the council may have to meet over the weekend if the U.S. and France work out something after the negotiations.

"Council members will do whatever is needed to accommodate negotiations," Effah-Apenteng told reporters after the council was briefed on the humanitarian crisis in Lebanon.

Source: Xinhua