US says Lebanon talks not a failure

ROME, July 26 (Reuters) The United States rejected suggestions today that talks on Lebanon had failed after a joint declaration stopped short of calling for an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Hizbollah guerrillas.

World diplomats at the meeting, following long discussions over the wording, instead agreed in their declaration to ''work immediately to reach with the utmost urgency'' a ceasefire.

''What do you mean they broke down? They came up with an agreement that talked about an urgent ceasefire,'' said White House spokesman Tony Snow.

''I think it's important to recognize that if you don't have a specified clock date for a ceasefire, that's not a failure, that's a recognition of reality.'' The United States is a strong ally of Israel and has been criticised by Arab nations for not doing enough to rein in Israel in its attacks on Lebanon.

Arab leaders, Italy and the United Nations had sought a declaration for an immediate ceasefire without preconditions.

Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora praised work at the Rome talks but warned that delays to a ceasefire meant more lives would be lost after 15 days of fighting which has already killed 418 people in Lebanon and 42 Israelis.

''The more we delay the ceasefire, the more we are going to witness more are being killed, more destruction and more aggression against the civilians in Lebanon,'' he said.

Finnish Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja said: ''We agreed on what we could agree on.'' US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who co-chaired the talks by foreign ministers from West Asia and Europe, had sought wording in the final document that avoided calls for an ''immediate'' ceasefire, diplomats said.

US diplomats said they preferred the wording ''work toward'' an immediate ceasefire.

A senior State Department official traveling with Rice said she was very satisfied with the results of the meeting and that the statement showed ''strong international consensus'' on the issue. He disagreed that Washington was isolated in the meeting.

''What we see here is that all of us want to do something meaningful and lasting for Lebanon,'' the official said.

''Whether we call it immediate or urgent is semantics. We walked out of that room with the same sense of urgency (as the others).'' REUTERS MQA PM2227