No cease-fire deal

Rice, in Beirut, offers little hope for U.S. intervention until wider agreement for region is reached; 750,000 Lebanese now displaced

BY MOHAMAD BAZZI | Newsday Middle East Correspondent

July 25, 2006

BEIRUT, Lebanon - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice made an unannounced visit to Beirut yesterday but offered Lebanese leaders little hope of a quick cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah.

Rice met with Prime Minister Fuad Saniora, a U.S. ally, and pledged to help create a "humanitarian corridor" to deliver aid to nearly 750,000 Lebanese displaced by 13 days of fighting. But she insisted there must be a comprehensive agreement that includes diminishing Hezbollah's strength before the United States pressures Israel to end its offensive.

"She offered no immediate prospect of a cease-fire," said Sami Haddad, Lebanese minister of economy and trade.

Rice also met with Nabih Berri, Lebanon's parliament speaker who is an ally of the Shia militant group Hezbollah. Many Lebanese officials had hoped that meeting would produce the outlines of a cease-fire deal that Berri could take to Hezbollah leaders,according to a Lebanese official with knowledge of the negotiations.

Hours before Rice arrived in Beirut, Israel halted its air strikes on the city's southern suburbs, apparently in deference to the secretary of state. But fighting continued in south Lebanon, as Israeli troops and tanks besieged Bint the largest town near the Israeli border. Four Israeli soldiers were killed and 20 were wounded. Early today, an Israeli missile strike on a house in south Lebanon killed seven people, hospital and security officials said. It was not immediately clear why Israel targeted the house, which belonged to a man named Mohammed Ghandour.

After spending five hours in Lebanon, Rice returned by helicopter to Cyprus and then flew to Israel. After meeting with Israeli leaders today, she is expected in Rome tomorrow. There, she will meet with European leaders and officials from Egypt and Saudi Arabia. The two main Arab powers blame Hezbollah for provoking Israel and have been far less critical of the Israeli offensive than expected.

The crucial meeting with Berri was a missed opportunity for Rice, according to the Lebanese official. Berri, who leads a Shia political party called Amal, is an ally of both Hezbollah and the Syrian regime. The United States refuses to deal directly with Hezbollah, which it labels a terrorist group. U.S. officials also have cut back their contact with the Syrian government, which supports Hezbollah. The official said Rice could have used the meeting with Berri to send proposals to Hezbollah and the Syrians.

Rice also offered little to Saniora, who asked her to "put an end to the war being inflicted on Lebanon." He told Rice that Israel's intense bombardment was taking the country "backward 50 years," according to a statement from his office.

Saniora came to power last year after the first Lebanese elections in three decades held without Syrian interference. In April 2005, thousands of Syrian troops were forced to withdraw from Lebanon under international pressure and public protests that followed the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

After Hezbollah abducted two Israeli soldiers on July 12 in a cross-border raid, Israel launched its most intense attack on Lebanon in 24 years. The offensive has killed more than 380 people - mostly civilians - and crippled the country's infrastructure, destroying dozens of roads and bridges. Israel has also tried to choke off Lebanon, imposing a naval blockade, bombing Beirut's international airport and destroying the highway that connects Lebanon to Syria.

Hezbollah has launched more than 1,100 rockets and missiles at northern Israel, killing 17 civilians and injuring dozens. In addition, 22 Israeli soldiers have been killed in the fighting.

The Lebanese government - which includes two ministers from Hezbollah - quickly announced that it did not know about plans to abduct the soldiers, and did not condone the militia's actions. As soon as the fighting started, Hezbollah leader Sayyid Hassan Nasrallah began acting as the virtual head of state. In a July 14 speech on national television, he practically declared war on Israel.

"Nasrallah has the guns and that is why he's acting like the head of government," said Mohammad Kabbani, a member of the Lebanese parliament who is allied with Saniora. "When things cool down, the government will have to ensure that no single power - Hezbollah or anybody else - can make the decision of war or peace alone."

Lebanese officials say Saniora cannot try to disarm Hezbollah or deploy Lebanese troops along the southern border with Israel while the bombing continues. But President George W. Bush insists he will not push for a cease-fire until the Lebanese government can contain Hezbollah's threat to Israel.

"We're very disappointed at the blank check that the U.S. government has given Israel and its army to destroy Lebanon," said Haddad, a Saniora ally. "The war is bringing ruin and disaster to this government."

Haddad estimated that 750,000 people - about 20 percent of the Lebanon's population of 4 million - have been forced to leave their homes. He said damage to the infrastructure has exceeded $1 billion.

Jan Egeland, the top United Nations aid official, appealed for $150 million over the next three months for food, water, medicine and sanitation for the displaced.

UN aid for Southern Lebanon

Two aid convoys leave Beirut for the southern cities of Tyre and Marjayoun. UN humanitarian chief Jan Egeland accuses Hezbollah of "cowardly blending" among Lebanese civilians.

Hezbollah leader Sayyid Hassan Nasrallah says in published remarks that the priority is for a cease-fire and that he is open to discussing an end to the crisis.

Israel captures two Hezbollah fighters as forces push deeper into Lebanon in heavy fighting at Bint Jbeil, the closest large town to the border.

Hezbollah fires more than 40 rockets into northern Israel, wounding 13 people.

An Israeli helicopter crashes south of the border during an emergency landing, killing two. Two more soldiers die in fighting.

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Rice, in Beirut, offers little hope for U.S. intervention until wider agreement for region is reached; 750,000 Lebanese now displaced

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