Saudi Arabia seeks Lebanon ceasefire in meeting with Bush, Rice

Top Saudi Arabian officialsmet with their U.S. counterparts on Sunday in an effort to end the carnage in Lebanon.

"We are requesting a ceasefire to allow for a cessation of hostilities," Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisalsaid after meetingU.S.President George W. Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in Washington, D.C.

"I found the president very conscious of the destruction and bloodshed the Lebanese are suffering," he said.

Saud gave Bush a letter from Saudi King Abdullah asking for a ceasefire.

The White House had no commentfollowing the meeting, butthere is no indication the U.S. is readyto call for a ceasefire in the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah militants,which is in its12th day.

American leaders blameHezbollah for the fighting, which has claimedat least 375 Lebanese and 36 Israelis. Israel began air and ground attacks on July 12 after Hezbollah killed eight Israeli soldiers and captured two more in a cross-border raid.

The U.S. has insisted that Hezbollah must stop firing rockets at Israel and return two captured Israeli soldiers.

Pressure from Arab states

The U.S. also wants moderate Arab states to pressure Syria to stop supporting Hezbollah. That would make it easier to ask Israel to stop its attacks, and make it harder for Hezbollah to continue assaults on Israel.

Reports from Cairo said both Saudi Arabia and Egypt are leaning on Syria. But Arab countries that seek to rein in the militants have to be careful so they are not seen as doingthe bidding of the United States.

Rice made it clear Friday that a lasting peace requires weakening Hezbollah, and media reports said the U.S. wants to give Israel enough time to beat Hezbollah militarily before pushing for a ceasefire.

A ceasefire "allowing terrorists to launch attacks at the time and terms of their choosing" would simply guarantee more violence, Rice said.

Israeli Defence Minister Amir Peretz said on Sunday the attacks on Lebanon will continue until Hezbollah is pushed back from position along the Israel-Lebanon border.

Israel would accept NATO-led troops

Peretz also said that Israel would accept international troops, preferably led by NATO, along the border.

"Israel's goal is to see the Lebanese army deployed along the border with Israel, but we understand that we are talking about a weak army and that in the mid-term period, Israel will have to accept a multinational force," Peretz told German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, according to officials from Peretz's office.

Syrian plan rejected

Syria floated aceasefire plan Sunday, but John Bolton,the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, rejected it.

"Syria doesn't need dialogue to know what it needs to do. They need to lean on Hezbollah to get them to release the two captured Israeli soldiers and stop the launch of rockets against innocent Israeli civilians," Bolton said.

The Sunday afternoon meeting took place just before Rice was to leave for theMiddle East for a round of talks with Israel's Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas.

Those talks will be followed bya summit in Rome on Wednesday with foreign ministers from Israel, Lebanon,the European Union, the UNand a number of Arab states.