Word: rome
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...Rome, where Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met with Arab and European envoys, there was further evidence that the diplomatic united front against Hizballah that the U.S. was hoping to achieve has not materialized. A growing international clamor for an immediate cease-fire - and U.S. resistance to that call, on the grounds that it would simply restore the previous status quo - is leaving Washington more isolated than it would prefer to be. The final statement of the Rome meeting tried to paper over the differences with a pledge to "work immediately to reach with the utmost urgency a cease-fire...
...There was substantial agreement in Rome, not surprisingly, on the need to send an international force to police southern Lebanon to allow for the Lebanese army to assume control of the border and for Hizballah to be disarmed. But how such that can be achieved remains highly contentious. Even if most of the international community wants an immediate cease-fire, it is powerless to effect one without the support of the U.S. - the only player capable of persuading Israel to call off its assault. Still, the way the military situation is evolving may actually give the Arabs and Europeans greater...
...Arab governments are said to be studying the proposal, and to have responded positively to most of its elements. It is expected to be refined in discussions in Rome on Wednesday between Secretary Rice and Arab, UN and European diplomats...
...though its content has not been made public, the Saudi government has made no secret of its alarm at Israel's relentless bombardment of Lebanon and at the burgeoning humanitarian crisis in Lebanon and Gaza. Still, the Saudis are expected to join delegations from Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon in Rome, as well as European envoys and World Bank officials, who will help come up with a reconstruction plan for Lebanon...
...occupation. That is why the fourth key to peace is to stabilize Lebanon. In part, that means propping up the fragile government of technocrats led by Fouad Siniora and pumping donors to help Lebanon rebuild itself (again)--which will be the focus of a high-level international meeting in Rome this week. But it also means ensuring that Hizballah can no longer use its strongholds in the south to threaten regional peace. That explains why Rice has been at pains to insist that her mission is not to restore the status quo ante but to change the game in Lebanon...