Senior US diplomat to visit Beirut tomorrow

BEIRUT, Aug 4: US Assistant Secretary of State David Welch will visit Beirut tomorrow for talks with Lebanese officials on ways to end Israel's war with Hizbollah, Lebanese political sources today said.

Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora snubbed Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Sunday, saying Lebanon would only engage in talks after a ceasefire.

The snub forced the cancellation of a trip to Beirut by Rice the same day an Israeli air strike killed 54 civilians, mostly children, in south Lebanon.

But political sources said Welch would be holding talks with Siniora and other officials to discuss efforts at the United Nations to broker a ceasefire and the deployment of a more robust international force in south Lebanon.

Siniora has said more than 900 people have been killed in Israeli attacks in Lebanon since Hizbollah guerrillas captured two Israeli soldiers in a cross-border attack on July 12.

Sixty-eight Israelis have died in Hizbollah attacks.

REUTERS