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Rice heads to Middle East to lead diplomatic efforts

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice leaves today to spearhead international Lebanon crisis talks as diplomatic efforts pick up speed, 10 days into Israel's offensive against Hezbollah.

Rice said she would first meet with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, before heading to Rome for an international conference on the violence in Lebanon.

But she rejected calls for an immediate ceasefire as a "false promise" based on the assumptions of the "old" Middle East, and ruled out any role in a peace deal for Hezbollah.

Rice's warnings contrasted with increasingly urgent calls for a truce from UN mediator Vijay Nambiar, who met Rice earlier on Friday in New York, shortly after returning from the region.

Nambiar bemoaned "serious obstacles" to a ceasefire in the immediate future, during a public debate of the 15-member UN Security Council.

In another sign that diplomatic efforts had hit a higher gear, the White House said Rice would join President George W. Bush today to discuss the crisis with Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel meanwhile called Bush to discuss the worsening humanitarian crisis in Lebanon, the White House said.

As Rice firmed up her plans, a flurry of European politicians toured the region, most seeking to nudge the warring parties closer to a ceasefire and to alleviate the plight of Lebanese civilians.

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier announced plans to travel to Cairo, and then Israel to meet Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Foreign Minister Zippi Livni and Defense Minister Amir Peretz.

He was also due to meet Abbas.

French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy warned of a looming "catastrophe" and called for an immediate ceasefire as he left Beirut.

European Union Foreign Policy chief Javier Solana has also been in the region.

The Rome conference, which Italian foreign ministry sources said would take place on Wednesday, will bring together the core group on Lebanon, which includes France, Britain, Lebanon, the EU, Russia, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Italy, the UN and the World Bank.

But Rice warned demands from many of those nations for an immediate ceasefire belonged in the "old" Middle East as they ignored what Washington said was the cause of the conflict, the proxy use of Hezbollah by Iran and Syria.

"A ceasefire would be a false promise if it simply returns us to the status quo," Rice said.

"This is a different Middle East. It's a new Middle East. It's hard, We're going through a very violent time," she said. "What we're seeing here ... are the birth pangs of a new Middle East and whatever we do, we have to be certain that we are pushing forward to the new Middle East, not going back to the old one."

Washington is increasingly mentioning its Arab allies as critical to ending the crisis, in the hope they can influence Syria and Iran.
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