British Prime Minister Tony Blair welcomed on Saturday the agreement of a draft United Nations resolution as "an absolutely vital first step" towards ending the conflict in Lebanon.

"It is an important breakthrough," Blair said in a statement, adding "the priority now is to get the resolution adopted as soon as possible and then to work for a permanent ceasefire and achieve the conditions in Lebanon and Israel which will prevent a recurrence."

Once the resolution was adopted by the full Security Council there should be "a full cessation of hostilities at that point on both sides," Blair said.

"There is still much to be done. But there is no reason why this resolution should not be adopted now and we have the cessation of hostilities literally within the next couple of days, "Blair said.

On Saturday, a draft UN resolution agreed by France and the United States calls for "full cessation of hostilities" by Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon which have been involved in a bloody conflict since July 12.

The draft calls for "a full cessation of hostilities based upon, in particular, the immediate cessation by Hezbollah of all attacks and the immediate cessation by Israel of all offensive military operations."

The resolution is to be submitted by the representative of France to the UN Security Council later Saturday.

The UN Security Council is due to meet at 3 p.m. (1900 GMT) to discuss the draft which will be likely adopted in the next few days.

Source: Xinhua