Lebanon ceasefire hard without Iran, Syria - UN envoy

UN Middle East envoy Terje Roed-Larsen said yesterday it would be difficult to agree on a ceasefire in the Lebanon conflict without involving Iran and Syria, backers of Hizbollah guerillas fighting Israeli forces.

The Norwegian diplomat also told the newspaper Le Figaro that he thought there was little chance of a quick ceasefire in the 17-day-old conflict, which has killed hundreds of civilians. "Without these two countries (Iran and Syria) it will be extremely difficult to reach a ceasefire," Mr Roed-Larsen told the French daily.

"It is too early to say if they can be associated (with resolving the crisis). Kofi Annan is in touch with all parties. He has spoken with the presidents of Iran and Syria."

The conflict was triggered on July 12 when Hizbollah captured two Israeli soldiers and killed eight in a cross-border raid, provoking massive military retaliation by Israel.

Asked if a quick ceasefire was possible, he said: "Frankly, no. Neither Israel nor Hizbollah are displaying any sign of accepting one right now. On the contrary, both have remained very belligerent." He denied that an international conference in Rome on Wednesday had been a failure even though it had not called for an immediate end to hostilities.

"It would have been naïve to think we could have solved all the problems in half a day," he said.