Annan Sends Envoys in Effort to Contain Crisis

The United Nations and the European Union announced emergency diplomatic trips to the Middle East yesterday, as many countries - but not Britain and America - joined a chorus of condemnation of Israel's actions in Lebanon.

Kofi Annan, the UN secretary general, said he was dispatching a three-person team to Cairo, to consult with foreign ministers from Arab League states, and then to Israel, the occupied territories, Lebanon and Syria. The team would "emphasise to all parties the secretary general's call to exercise restraint and to do whatever possible to help contain the conflict," Mr Annan's spokesman said.

Hot on their heels, the EU's foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, was expected to leave for the region on a peace mission in the next few days, after an official EU statement called Israel's use of force "disproportionate" and its air and sea blockade of Lebanon unjustifiable.

But the tone of the EU statement - issued by Finland, which currently holds the presidency of the organisation - was gentle by comparison to others. France's foreign minister, Philippe Douste-Blazy, called Israel's actions "a disproportionate act of war" that could plunge Lebanon back into a state of conflict, while Greece called the bombing raids an "excessive and pointless use of force".

The crisis also seemed set to dominate the G8 summit of world leaders beginning in St Petersburg this weekend, as well as a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels scheduled for Monday.

Russia's foreign minister,Sergei Lavrov, also condemned the attacks as "disproportionate". "If both sides are going to drive each other into a tight corner, then I think that all this will develop in a very dramatic and tragic way," he said.

Disagreements over the situation could exacerbate tensions between George Bush and the G8's host, Vladimir Putin, who are due to meet tomorrow. In Germany yesterday, visiting chancellor Angela Merkel en route to the summit, Mr Bush characterised the crisis as a question of Israel's right to defend itself. "It's really sad where people are willing to take innocent life in order to stop [the peace process]. As a matter of fact, it's pathetic," he said.

The British government was broadly neutral. Tony Blair's spokesman said the world should "remember how these problems have arisen, which is first and foremost the kidnappings". But Hilary Benn, the international development secretary, told Channel 4 News it was "very important that Israel abides within international law and that the actions that it takes are proportionate". What was needed was a return to the negotiating table, he said.

In a sign of divisions in the Lebanese government, Beirut recalled its ambassador to the US after he suggested that Israel and Hizbullah should negotiate an exchange of prisoners. "We have our prisoners, they have prisoners," Farid Abboud told CNN, using language that seemed to undermine his government's attempts to distance itself in public from Hizbullah.