Condi, Kofi and Solana - Stooges 'working hard'

Condoleezza Rice, the US secretary of state, and Javier Solana, the EU foreign policy chief, were to meet Kofi Annan, the UN secretary-general, in New York on Thursday.

Annan has proposed the creation of an international force to restore calm in Lebanon.

Solana said: "We will work very, very hard to see if we can have an end of hostilities and the beginning of something of a political nature before the end of next week."

Lebanon's prime minister has pleaded for help to stop the "callous retribution" being inflicted by Israel ...

Fuad Siniora said: "The country has been torn to shreds. Can the international community stand by while such callous retribution by the state of Israel is inflicted on us?

"You want to support the government of Lebanon? Let me tell you ... no government can survive on the ruins of a nation.

"I hope you will not let us down. We the Lebanese want life. We have chosen life. We refuse to die."

Wednesday's death toll reached 74, as Israeli strikes killed 72 people in Lebanon and a Hezbollah rocket attack left two Arab-Israeli children dead in the northern Israeli town of Nazareth.

More than 300 people have now been killed and 500,000 displaced during the week-long conflict. Link