U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice meets Israel's Prime Minister Ehud
Olmert on Tuesday for talks on the war in Lebanon with little immediate prospect
of a ceasefire with Hizbollah guerrillas.
Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice sits with diplomats at the U.S. Embassy in Beirut, July
24, 2006. [Reuters] |
On a stopover in Beirut, battered by two weeks of Israeli bombing, Rice put
forward truce proposals similar to Israel's own demand for Hizbollah to pull
back from the border to allow an international force to deploy, Lebanese
politicians said.
"Any peace is going to have to be based on enduring principles and not on
temporary solutions," Rice told reporters in Jerusalem before dinner with
Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni.
Despite the diplomacy, Israeli forces battled Hizbollah in southern Lebanon
and planes kept up daily air raids. At least 378 people in Lebanon and 41
Israelis have died in the conflict, ignited by Hizbollah's capture of two
soldiers on July 12.
While saying she has no plan for Middle East shuttle diplomacy, Rice's
schedule this week resembles just that. She headed to Jerusalem after a surprise
visit to Beirut and will also visit Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in
Ramallah.
Among issues on the table are an international force for south Lebanon and
getting Hizbollah to move back from the border as well as return the soldiers it
seized in a cross-border raid.
Rice and Olmert's talks will also deal with the question of what can be done
to ease the suffering for civilians in Lebanon, which estimates almost one-fifth
of its population has been displaced by Israeli bombing. Most of the dead are
civilians.
The United States backs the idea of a humanitarian corridor to get help to
the needy, an idea Israel says it could support.
"We did feel that Lebanon has been dealt a severe blow," said David Welch,
Rice's point man on the Middle East. "There's a lot of concern about that."
One of the key sticking points for a ceasefire is the sequence of events for
a deal.
Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, an ally of Hizbollah and close to
Syria, told Rice in Beirut a ceasefire should come first, followed by an
exchange of prisoners and then discussion of other issues, a Lebanese political
source said.
The office of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, who has pleaded for an immediate
ceasefire, said he was more open to Rice's proposal and discussed ways of
developing her ideas. A U.S. official said Siniora also wanted a prisoner
exchange first.
Israel wants Hizbollah to leave the border area immediately and free the
captured soldiers without conditions.
Rice has made clear she is not seeking a quick ceasefire and any solution
should address the root causes of the conflict -- for which Washington and
Israel blame Hizbollah and its backers in Iran and Syria.
Many of the issues will be discussed at an international conference in Rome
on Wednesday. Rice is then set to go to Malaysia for talks with Asian leaders
before a possible return to the Middle East.
Israel's army believes it may have a week to keep pounding Hizbollah before a
deal is reached, security sources said.
Recent fighting was concentrated around Bint Jbeil, about 4 km (2.5 miles)
inside Lebanon, target of one of several Israeli forays in search of Hizbollah
fighters and rocket-launchers.
But raids and air strikes have failed to stop Hizbollah firing rockets into
northern Israeli cities, where they have killed 17 civilians so far. More than
100 rockets fell on Monday, wounding at least 11 people.
Israel says it would accept an international force to dislodge Hizbollah
guerrillas from the border and several European Union nations have said they
were ready to contribute to a U.N. peace force.
But just as Hizbollah has fought Israeli attempts to drive it from the south,
it would likely resist an international effort to do the same.
Rice is also set to meet Palestinian President Abbas on Tuesday.
Israel's Lebanon offensive coincided with an Israeli push into the Gaza Strip
to try to recover a soldier captured by Palestinian militants and halt rocket
fire. Israeli forces have killed at least 121 Palestinians in the month since
then.
Early on Tuesday, Israeli aircraft fired a missile at the home of a militant
from the governing Islamist group Hamas, wounding seven
people.
