Annan: Lebanon Ceasefire at Critical Stage

The UN secretary general, Kofi Annan, arrived in Beirut today at the start of a visit to the Middle East aimed at strengthening the uneasy ceasefire in Lebanon.

Speaking to reporters after being met at the airport by the Lebanese foreign minister, Fawzi Salloukh, Mr Annan said it was "a very critical time" for the country.

"I think it's important that I come here myself to discuss with the Lebanese authorities the aftermath of the war and the measures we need to take to implement UN security council resolution 1701 and to underscore international solidarity."

During his two-day stay Mr Annan will meet Lebanese leaders and visit UN peacekeepers, who are already deployed in southern Lebanon. He is also due to visit Israel, the Palestinian territories, Syria and Iran.

The security council resolution that ended 34 days of fighting between Hizbullah and Israeli forces calls for the deployment of 15,000 peacekeepers in southern Lebanon and an equal number of Lebanese troops to patrol the border region when Israel withdraws.

Mr Annan is expected to face Lebanese demands for the urgent lifting of an Israeli air and sea blockade of the country. Resolution 1701 called for the full reopening of Lebanon's ports and for an arms embargo against Hizbullah.

Israel has insisted it will maintain the blockade until the arms embargo is enforced. It also wants UN troops to guard Lebanon's border with Syria.

Mr Annan's visit came as the French president, Jacques Chirac, urged Israel to lift its blockade of Lebanon.

Speaking to France's ambassadors at the Elysee Palace, he said: "I call on Israel to lift the air and maritime blockade that is seriously penalising the Lebanese economy and preventing progress toward normalisation." In a wide-ranging speech, Mr Chirac also talked about Hizbullah's kidnapping of two Israeli soldiers which sparked the month-long war, and the capture by Hamas-linked militants of a young Israeli soldier on June 25, which prompted an Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip.

"In both cases, irresponsible provocations - and the sometimes excessive reactions that they gave rise to - led the entire region to the edge of a cliff," Mr Chirac said.

Last night, Hizbullah said it would not have captured the two Israeli soldiers if it had known war would follow.

Its leader, Hassan Nasrallah, said talks were continuing to exchange the pair for Lebanese prisoners held by Israel.

Israel has denied any negotiations are under way, but the foreign minister, Tzipi Livni, said today that the conflict would not be resolved without the soldiers' release. The July 12 kidnapping "was the start of this entire matter", Ms Livni said during a visit to Germany.

"From our side, so long as this issue with the two soldiers is not solved, the whole thing is of little significance. Our sovereignty has been infringed and if this resolution does not make that good, then we still have this problem."