Rice holds key talks in Lebanon

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has held talks with Lebanon's PM in Beirut at the start of a Middle East tour to discuss the regional crisis.

She met Fouad Siniora on an unannounced visit that her officials said was to show support for Lebanon's people.

Ms Rice praised Mr Siniora's "courage and steadfastness" and was expected to unveil an aid package.

But she has also said there is no place for "terrorist groups" like Hezbollah to attack from Lebanese territory.

En route from Washington, Ms Rice said there was an "urgent" need for a ceasefire - but that conditions had to be right.

Ms Rice will later head to Israel to meet Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

In the latest developments:

• Having captured the village of Maroun al-Ras in the very south of Lebanon, Israeli forces appeared to be pushing northwards and fierce clashes were reported around the town of Bint Jbeil. Ten Israeli soldiers were hurt in the border fighting and two Hezbollah guerrillas captured, Israel said
• An Israeli helicopter has crashed in northern Israel, causing two casualties. An army spokeswoman blamed technical problems, but Hezbollah reportedly claimed it had been shot down
• Arabic news channel al-Jazeera reported that two Israeli soldiers had been killed in fighting, but there was no confirmation by the Israelis
• The UN launched an appeal for $150m (£81m) to help hundreds of thousands of displaced Lebanese civilians.

At least 372 Lebanese, the great majority civilians, have been killed during the conflict, which is now into its 13th day. Thirty-seven Israelis have been killed, about half of them civilians.

The Israeli offensive began after Hezbollah captured two Israeli soldiers in a cross-border raid on 12 July.

No return

Ms Rice arrived in Beirut from Cyprus on a heavily armed military helicopter and went straight into talks with Mr Siniora.

"Thank you for your courage and your steadfastness," she told him, before the closed-door meeting. Afterwards she said she was "deeply concerned about the Lebanese people and what they are enduring".

During her plane journey from Washington, Ms Rice told reporters Hezbollah must no longer be allowed to "plunge Lebanon and the region into war".

"It is very important to establish conditions under which a ceasefire can take place," she said.

In London, UK Prime Minister Tony Blair said what was happening in Lebanon was "a catastrophe" and that he hoped a plan for a ceasefire could be spelled out "in the next few days".

Mr Blair said a ceasefire plan would need the agreement of both sides to end hostilities, the return of the two Israeli soldiers and "some form of international force in the south in Lebanon".

For his part, Mr Olmert has said in a policy shift that Israel will be prepared to accept a European peacekeeping force providing it is robust and has a strong mandate.

In Brussels, EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said several European countries were willing to contribute to such a force, which he said could be deployed under the umbrella of the UN Security Council.

The BBC's Kim Ghattas, in Beirut, says Lebanon has felt let down by the international community because there has been no call for an unconditional ceasefire.

However, Mr Siniora has also said there will be no return to the status quo that existed before the violence started. And he insisted the Lebanese government was trying to extend its authority over the whole of the country.

Hezbollah defiant

An estimated 600,000 Lebanese have now been forced out of their homes. Meanwhile in Haifa, northern Israel, one of two people killed by rocket fire on Sunday was buried.

Despite the diplomatic moves, Israeli Brig Gen Alon Friedman told Israel Army Radio the ground operation would probably go on for another 10 days.

Israel, which pulled out of southern Lebanon in 2000, has vowed to destroy Hezbollah's ability to launch rockets at its territory.

But Hezbollah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah said an Israeli invasion of southern Lebanon would not succeed.

"Any Israeli incursion will not have political results unless it achieves any of the announced goals, most importantly to stop the bombardment of Zionist settlements," he told As-Safir newspaper.

"I assure you that this goal will not be achieved."

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/middle_east/5209778.stm

Published: 2006/07/24 14:39:07 GMT

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