Latest Beirut Stories

By Nadim Ladki BEIRUT (Reuters) - U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said on Monday he would appoint a secret negotiator to mediate between Israel and Hizbollah for the release of two Israeli soldiers seized in July. But Israeli officials said Annan's role was to secure the release of the soldiers demanded by a U.N. resolution, not to mediate. Hizbollah gave a cautious response, backing only indirect negotiations to secure a prisoner exchange. "The two sides have accepted the effort of...

By Nadim Ladki BEIRUT (Reuters) - U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said on Monday he would appoint a secret negotiator to mediate between Israel and Hizbollah for the release of two Israeli soldiers seized in July. "The two sides have accepted the effort of the secretary-general to help solve this problem," Annan told a news conference in Saudi Arabia. "I will appoint a person to work secretly with the two sides ... I will not announce his name today or tomorrow," he said through an...

By Nadim Ladki BEIRUT (Reuters) - The commander of U.N. peacekeepers said a joint meeting with Lebanese and Israeli officers on Monday had brought closer a full Israeli troop withdrawal from south Lebanon in line with a U.N. resolution. Lebanon had become increasingly agitated by what it sees as a delay in the Israeli withdrawal and the lifting of an eight-week-old Israeli sea and air blockade. The United Nations has said the Israeli pullout would be completed once the number of...

By Nadim Ladki BEIRUT (Reuters) - The commander of U.N. peacekeepers said a joint meeting with Lebanese and Israeli officers on Monday had brought closer a full Israeli troop withdrawal from south Lebanon in line with a U.N. resolution. Major-General Alain Pelligrini met representatives of the Lebanese and Israeli armies at his UNIFIL headquarters in the southern Lebanese port of Naqoura to coordinate the process of the Israeli pullout and Lebanese deployment, in conjunction with the...

By Odai Sirri DOHA (Reuters) - Qatar on Monday became the first Arab country to commit troops to the expanded U.N. force set up to keep the peace between Israel and Hizbollah guerrillas in south Lebanon. The Gulf state said it would contribute 200-300 troops to the U.N. force and planned to send a civilian airliner to Beirut despite a nearly eight-week-old Israeli air and sea blockade. The planned deployment was announced by Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Hamad al-Thani during a visit...

By Khaled Yacoub Oweis DAMASCUS (Reuters) - U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said on Friday Syrian President Bashar al-Assad had promised to enforce an arms embargo on Hizbollah under a U.N. resolution that halted Israel's war with the Lebanese group. "The president informed me that Syria supports Security Council Resolution 1701 and will help in its implementation," Annan told reporters after talks with Assad in Damascus. "While stating Syrian objections to the presence of foreign...

By Khaled Yacoub Oweis DAMASCUS (Reuters) - U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan won a pledge from Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Friday to help implement a U.N. resolution that halted fighting between Israel and Lebanon's Hizbollah group, a spokesman said. "It was a very good meeting. The president and Mr. Annan discussed the implementation of Security Council Resolution 1701 and the president told Mr. Annan that Syria supports and will help its implementation," Ahmad Fawzi, Annan's...

By Khaled Yacoub Oweis DAMASCUS (Reuters) - U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan met Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Friday to seek his help in bolstering a truce between Israel and Lebanon's Hizbollah group, whose chief allies are Syria and Iran. The two men held talks that lasted about 45 minutes. Neither spoke to reporters afterwards. No news conference was scheduled. Annan had been expected to urge Assad to prevent weapons from reaching Hizbollah from Syrian territory, widely...

By Suleiman al-Khalidi AMMAN (Reuters) - U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan holds talks with Jordan on Thursday in a drive to cement a Hizbollah-Israel ceasefire before traveling to Damascus to press Syria to help stop arms smuggling across its border. The trip to Syria poses the biggest challenge of the two for Annan because Israel is demanding U.N. peacekeepers in Lebanon should join the Lebanese army in policing the border to prevent weapons reaching the Lebanese Hizbollah guerrilla...

By Dean Yates JERUSALEM (Reuters) - U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Tuesday said he hoped to soon double to 5,000 the number of U.N. troops in southern Lebanon and urged Israel and Hizbollah to swiftly end rows blocking a permanent ceasefire. Annan said he would ask Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in talks on Wednesday to lift Israel's air and sea blockade of Lebanon, imposed at the start of the war nearly seven weeks ago. Speaking after meeting Israeli Defense Minister Amir Peretz...