From Ynet News, 21/7/06, from Associated Press ...
US Secretary of State rules out quick cease-fire as ‘false promise,’ says ‘Syria knows what it needs to do, Hizbullah is the source of the problem.’ Israeli ambassador to US: This is a war not of our choosing
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, heading for a weekend trip to the troubled Middle East, said Friday she would work with allies in the region to help create conditions for "stability and lasting peace." She ruled out a quick cease-fire as a "false promise" and defended her decision not to talk to officials from Hizbullah or Syria. "Syria knows what it needs to do and Hizbullah is the source of the problem," Rice said at the State Department as she outlined US hopes for a diplomatic solution to the current crisis. Rice said she was meeting not only with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert but also with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas as well as with allies at a gathering in Rome.
...Rice said the United States was committed to ending the bloodshed, but didn't want to do it before certain conditions were met. The United States has said all along that Hizbullah must first turn over the two Israeli soldiers who were captured and stop firing missiles into Israel. "We do seek an end to the current violence, we seek it urgently. We also seek to address the root causes of that violence," she said. "A cease-fire would be a false promise if it simply returns us to the status quo."
...Talking to reporters aboard Air Force One as Bush was en route to an appearance in Colorado, she said the idea was "to provide the president and Dr. Rice a chance to continue to strategize with a key partner in the region on a diplomatic solution that will address the root causes of violence and terror in the region."
... United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan and .... called Thursday for an immediate cease-fire, that is opposed by the United States. The Bush administration says the United States and the UN agree on the wider diplomatic goals for the region.
The United States has resisted international pressure to lean on its ally Israel to halt the fighting. Rice was likely try to point the way to a relatively quick cease-fire, but not an immediate one. She is expected in Israel on Tuesday, Israeli officials said on condition of anonymity because the schedule was not yet confirmed.
.... The Rice initiative likely would be designed to give the United States a major role in brokering peace there. She is not expected to try to get a signed deal during her brief visit, however, and she risks laying out the U.S. goals only to have either side refuse to bargain.
Annan outlined the basic terms of a proposed cease-fire and the longer-range goals to remove the Hizbullah threat in southern Lebanon in a speech on Thursday.... The UN and US plan for long-term stability would give international help to the Beirut government to expel Hizbullah and install its own Army troops, something it has been unable to do on its own.....
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