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25-07-06, 16:37
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=2&article_id=74231
BEIRUT: US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice flew to Lebanon on Monday, insisting Hizbullah free two Israeli soldiers and pull back from the border before any cease-fire, according to press reports.
Rice met Prime Minister Fouad Siniora after arriving by helicopter from Cyprus. "Thank you for your courage and steadfastness," she told Siniora, who has repeatedly pleaded for the international community's help in securing an immediate cease-fire.
There was no immediate word on the outcome of Rice's meeting with Siniora.
Beirut's southern suburbs came under fire once more earlier Monday, but the capital was quiet after Rice's arrival, touching down on a helipad at the US Embassy and then being whisked off in an armored motorcade at high speed.
Rice later met with Speaker Nabih Berri, telling the Shiite leader that "the situation on the border cannot return to what it was before July 12," according to a Lebanese political source, referring to the day Hizbullah captured the two Israeli soldiers and killed three others in a cross-border raid. The source quoted Rice as saying there would be no cease-fire before Hizbullah released the soldiers "unconditionally" and withdrew its forces approximately 20 kilometers from the border.
"The tone of the meeting was very negative," the source said.
Al-Arabiyya television later reported that Berri had "rejected" Rice's conditions.
Hizbullah has refused to release the soldiers and is calling for a cease-fire before beginning any negotiations with Israel through a third party.
"Our message to Rice is cease-fire, cease-fire and cease-fire. Then we will negotiate a prisoner swap deal and the return of the internally displaced Lebanese to their villages," Hizbullah MP Hussein Hajj Hassan told The Daily Star.
Hassan said Berri conveyed this message to Rice.
The MP added that his party would keep launching rockets at Israel each time a new target is hit in Lebanon.
"They started this war and they captured our prisoners first," he said.
Speaking to reporters on her way to the region, Rice said she wanted to create conditions for
a sustainable cease-fire in a war that has cost at least 377 lives - the vast majority of them civilians - in Lebanon and at least 37 - about half of them soldiers - in Israel in 13 days.
A member of Rice's delegation said she would announce aid for Lebanon, where Israel's relentless bombardment has displaced at least 500,000 people and demolished infrastructure worth an estimated $2 billion.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb
The Lebanese government said Monday that 110,000 refugees were being housed in 642 schools and other temporary shelters across Lebanon.
"I am deeply concerned about the Lebanese people and what they are enduring," Rice said before meeting Berri.
"I am concerned about the humanitarian situation," she said, but stopped short of announcing any US assistance.
Rice also met with leaders from the March 14 Forces at the US Embassy. She then proceeded to Jerusalem for meetings with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas Tuesday before discussing the ongoing crisis with European and Arab officials in Rome Wednesday.
Meanwhile, British Prime Minister Tony Blair said Monday that he hoped a concrete plan would be announced "within the next few days" to bring about an immediate end to violence in Lebanon.
"There have been, as you would expect, over the past few days enormous diplomatic efforts to get us to the point where I hope at some point within the next few days we can say very clearly what our plan is to bring about such an immediate cessation of hostilities," Blair said.
Speaking at a joint news conference in London with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, the premier said he was looking to "make sure we put in place some mechanism that will allow greater stability in the region."
The plan will include a cease-fire between Israel and Hizbullah, a release of abducted Israeli soldiers and an international force deployed in Southern Lebanon, according to Blair.
In another development, Javier Solana, the European Union's foreign policy chief, said Monday the deployment of an international peacekeeping force in Lebanon was "a real possibility" as part of an overall solution to end the country's "political instability."
Speaking at EU headquarters in Brussels, Solana told reporters, "We work night and day to try to resolve a dramatic problem [in a] country that is very close to us."
The EU official said that included the possibility of a multinational force "under the umbrella of the United Nations Security Council."
"I believe that several nations of the European Union will be ready to contribute all that is necessary," he added. - Agencies
BEIRUT: US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice flew to Lebanon on Monday, insisting Hizbullah free two Israeli soldiers and pull back from the border before any cease-fire, according to press reports.
Rice met Prime Minister Fouad Siniora after arriving by helicopter from Cyprus. "Thank you for your courage and steadfastness," she told Siniora, who has repeatedly pleaded for the international community's help in securing an immediate cease-fire.
There was no immediate word on the outcome of Rice's meeting with Siniora.
Beirut's southern suburbs came under fire once more earlier Monday, but the capital was quiet after Rice's arrival, touching down on a helipad at the US Embassy and then being whisked off in an armored motorcade at high speed.
Rice later met with Speaker Nabih Berri, telling the Shiite leader that "the situation on the border cannot return to what it was before July 12," according to a Lebanese political source, referring to the day Hizbullah captured the two Israeli soldiers and killed three others in a cross-border raid. The source quoted Rice as saying there would be no cease-fire before Hizbullah released the soldiers "unconditionally" and withdrew its forces approximately 20 kilometers from the border.
"The tone of the meeting was very negative," the source said.
Al-Arabiyya television later reported that Berri had "rejected" Rice's conditions.
Hizbullah has refused to release the soldiers and is calling for a cease-fire before beginning any negotiations with Israel through a third party.
"Our message to Rice is cease-fire, cease-fire and cease-fire. Then we will negotiate a prisoner swap deal and the return of the internally displaced Lebanese to their villages," Hizbullah MP Hussein Hajj Hassan told The Daily Star.
Hassan said Berri conveyed this message to Rice.
The MP added that his party would keep launching rockets at Israel each time a new target is hit in Lebanon.
"They started this war and they captured our prisoners first," he said.
Speaking to reporters on her way to the region, Rice said she wanted to create conditions for
a sustainable cease-fire in a war that has cost at least 377 lives - the vast majority of them civilians - in Lebanon and at least 37 - about half of them soldiers - in Israel in 13 days.
A member of Rice's delegation said she would announce aid for Lebanon, where Israel's relentless bombardment has displaced at least 500,000 people and demolished infrastructure worth an estimated $2 billion.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb
The Lebanese government said Monday that 110,000 refugees were being housed in 642 schools and other temporary shelters across Lebanon.
"I am deeply concerned about the Lebanese people and what they are enduring," Rice said before meeting Berri.
"I am concerned about the humanitarian situation," she said, but stopped short of announcing any US assistance.
Rice also met with leaders from the March 14 Forces at the US Embassy. She then proceeded to Jerusalem for meetings with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas Tuesday before discussing the ongoing crisis with European and Arab officials in Rome Wednesday.
Meanwhile, British Prime Minister Tony Blair said Monday that he hoped a concrete plan would be announced "within the next few days" to bring about an immediate end to violence in Lebanon.
"There have been, as you would expect, over the past few days enormous diplomatic efforts to get us to the point where I hope at some point within the next few days we can say very clearly what our plan is to bring about such an immediate cessation of hostilities," Blair said.
Speaking at a joint news conference in London with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, the premier said he was looking to "make sure we put in place some mechanism that will allow greater stability in the region."
The plan will include a cease-fire between Israel and Hizbullah, a release of abducted Israeli soldiers and an international force deployed in Southern Lebanon, according to Blair.
In another development, Javier Solana, the European Union's foreign policy chief, said Monday the deployment of an international peacekeeping force in Lebanon was "a real possibility" as part of an overall solution to end the country's "political instability."
Speaking at EU headquarters in Brussels, Solana told reporters, "We work night and day to try to resolve a dramatic problem [in a] country that is very close to us."
The EU official said that included the possibility of a multinational force "under the umbrella of the United Nations Security Council."
"I believe that several nations of the European Union will be ready to contribute all that is necessary," he added. - Agencies