The Arab League (AL) will send a delegation to New York late Monday in a bid to modify a Washington-Paris-initiated UN draft resolution aiming to end the escalating Israel-Hezbollah conflict, a Lebanese official said.

The decision to send the delegation to seek amendment of the draft UN resolution was made while Arab foreign ministers are meeting in the Lebanese capital Beirut.

Media reports quoted a Lebanese official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, as revealing that the delegation including AL Secretary-General Amr Moussa and the foreign ministers of Qatar and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) would leave Beirut shortly for New York.

Reports reaching here said that U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and several foreign ministers are expected to meet at the UN headquarters on Tuesday to discuss the Middle East crisis.

Lebanon as well as other Arab countries have expressed their objection to the proposed US-French resolution on Lebanon.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit said Sunday that the draft UN Security Council resolution had to meet the Lebanese people's aspirations if it wanted to bring a permanent end to the Israeli-Hezbollah conflict.

The draft resolution should included a mechanism for a prisoner swap, and address the disputed Shebaa Farms occupied by Israel, he told the official MENA news agency.

Abul Gheit said Arabs backed the seven-point peace plan which Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Seniora presented to an international conference in Rome on July 26.

He noted that the proposed multinational forces for Lebanon must have a clear-cut mandate and that the force had to be peacekeeping rather than peace imposing.

The force should also be under the UN umbrella with the approval of all parties concerned including Hezbollah, said Abul Gheit.

Foreign ministers from over 20 Arab countries and Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa began a closed-door meeting on Monday morning, with Siniora attended.

The meeting, held amid a fierce conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, is expected to focus on efforts toward a ceasefire.

The Arab foreign ministers will also discuss holding an Arab summit to help end the fighting in Lebanon, Moussa told reporters before the emergency meeting.

Local Lebanese media reported that the summit might be held in the Saudi city of Mecca.

Source: Xinhua