U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said Monday he wants the upcoming meeting in Rome of key Middle East players to agree on a package to stop the Israeli-Hezbollah fighting and ensure lasting peace between Israel and Lebanon. The package also should include a cease-fire, deployment of an international force, and the release of two Israeli soldiers held by Hezbollah, the secretary-general said. Annan, who will attend the Rome meeting on Wednesday, said the goal must be to support the Lebanese government, adding that Iran and Syria, must be part of a solution, he said. “What is important is that we leave Rome with a concrete strategy on how we are going to deal with this, and we do not walk away empty-handed and once again [ruin] the hopes of those who are caught in this conflict,” Annan said. “We have to truly agree on a package and move forward with simultaneous and parallel implementation of the package.” Annan said any deal also should address the dispute over the Chebaa Farms area, which Israel seized in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war and still occupies. Lebanon claims the area, but the United Nations determined that it is Syrian and that Syria and Israel should negotiate its fate. Annan said no decision had been made on sending U.N. envoys to Iran and Syria. He said he spoke Monday morning to Syrian President Bashar Assad and Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki, but he provided no details of the conversations. The group meeting on Wednesday comprises countries and organizations that have been trying to assist Lebanon's reconstruction and economic, political, and social reforms. Its members include the United Nations, the United States, the European Union, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, the World Bank, Britain, France, Italy, and Russia.
