Talks Fail on Mideast Truce

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice opposed a bid by U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan for a "pause" in fighting to allow a relief effort. (By Sandro Pace -- Associated Press)

The conference's declaration urged Israel "to exercise its utmost restraint" and pledged "to provide immediate humanitarian relief to the people of Lebanon."

A large international force -- with most estimates beginning at about 10,000 troops -- will take significant time to organize, the United Nations' Roed-Larsen said.

The strategy Rice is trying to orchestrate to stop Hezbollah's attacks on Israel centers on strengthening the Lebanese government with international political and military support that might enable it to deal with Hezbollah, U.S. officials said. While earlier governments in Beirut have been unwilling and unable to disarm Hezbollah ever since the radical Shiite militia's founding in 1982, diplomats traveling with Rice said that Hezbollah will eventually recognize that it is in its self-interest to disarm and become just a Lebanese political party.

"This is not a Hezbollah-centered approach. It is based on a government-of-Lebanon approach," State Department spokesman J. Adam Ereli said. "We think Hezbollah will see that it's in its interests to do it. We want to create a reality that makes maintaining an independent armed force in Lebanon unsustainable."

As part of this strategy, the United States does not rule out a role for Hezbollah in Lebanese politics. "We don't dispute Hezbollah's political role," Ereli said. "They were elected to parliament on the basis of free and fair elections, so we don't contest that. We say you can't have it both ways."

One idea being considered is incorporating Hezbollah fighters as reserve units in the Lebanese army and putting their arms in a depot under army auspices, Roed-Larsen said.

Conference participants were also divided on how to handle Syria and Iran. Annan called for "constructive engagement" with the governments in Damascus and Tehran, the chief benefactors of Hezbollah.

Rice said she was "very pleased" that the U.N. chief wants to "use his good offices to try and make sure that Syria and Iran behave responsibly," but expressed doubt that his efforts would succeed.

After the conference, Rice flew to Malaysia for a conference of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, where she is scheduled to stay until Saturday. Asian foreign ministers have called for an immediate Middle East cease-fire, putting the conflict high on the agenda of their annual security forum, the Reuters news agency reported.

Several conference delegates suggested Rice might return to the Middle East as soon as this weekend.