Rice says Lebanon-Israeli ceasefire is urgent

SHANNON, Ireland, July 24 (Reuters) On a mission to avert full-scale war in the West Asia, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said there was an urgent need for a ceasefire in southern Lebanon but conditions had to be right.

Speaking to reporters yesterday as she flew to the region, Rice said her focus would also be to ease the humanitarian crisis after nearly two weeks of fighting between Hizbollah guerrillas in Lebanon and Israeli forces.

''It is very important to establish conditions under which a ceasefire can take place. We believe that a ceasefire is urgent. It is important to have conditions that will make it also sustainable,'' said Rice before a refueling stop in Shannon, Ireland.

Her trip includes stops in Jerusalem and the Palestinian Territories.

Before leaving Washington, Rice met Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal at the White House where he pressed President George W Bush to agree to an immediate ceasefire in southern Lebanon.

Bush has so far resisted calling for an immediate ceasefire, saying Israel has a right to defend itself and a cessation of hostilities must address the root causes of the conflict.

After pressure from the Saudis, Rice seemed to take a softer line than last Friday when she said an immediate ceasefire would be a ''false promise'' that would let Hizbollah reemerge to attack Israel.

Rice said conditions for a ceasefire included that the Lebanese government must have total sovereignty over its land and Hizbollah must not be allowed to use its territory to ''plunge Lebanon and the region into war''.

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