Condoleezza Rice has blamed Hezbollah for the war with Israel and said a ceasefire would be possible only if two kidnapped Israeli soldiers were freed.

Rice offered sympathy for the Israeli people as fighting raged between their armed forces and Hezbollah, on the eve of her talks with Ehud Olmert, the Israeli prime minister, and Mahmud Abbas, the Palestinian president.

Washington is arguing that UN resolution 1559 and the Taif Agreement, which ended the Lebanese civil war in 1990, need to be fulfilled.

Both documents call for the Lebanese government to exercise full control over its territory, and the disarmament of militias -including Hezbollah.

The United States also accuses Syria and Iran of sponsoring Hezbollah, which Washington considers a terrorist group.

Tense talks in Beirut

A few hours earlier, Rice was in Beirut, where she told Fouad Siniora, the Lebanese prime minister, that there could be no ceasefire until Hezbollah released the two Israeli soldiers it captured on July 12.

A Lebanese source quoted Rice as saying that the pair would have to be released unconditionally and Hezbollah forces moved about 20km from the border.

"The tone of the meeting was very negative," the source said.

Siniora has repeatedly called for a ceasefire since Israeli offensive began 13 days ago.

He has said only a broad political deal - including a prisoner swap and an Israeli withdrawal from the disputed Shebaa Farms area - will work.

Sustainable ceasefire

Later during her visit, Rice told Nabih Berri, the Lebanese parliament speaker, that a ceasefire must be part of a deal that includes Hezbollah's withdrawal beyond the Litani River, 20km north of Israel, and the deployment of an international force in the border region.

She told Berri: "The situation on the border cannot return to what it was before July 12", referring to the day Hezbollah seized two Israeli soldiers during a raid into Israel, sparking a war in which 400 people have died on both sides, most of them Lebanese civilians.

Berri, a Shia close to Hezbollah said that there should be a sequence of events, "ceasefire, exchange of prisoners, and then discussing all other matters", a Lebanese source said.

Kofi Annan, the United Nations secretary-general, said that he would press for a truce and the establishment of an international peacekeeping force at the meeting.

Israel has dropped its objections to the force and several European Union nations have said they will contribute troops, but EU officials also said that questions remained over how it could fulfil its mission.

Britain has backed the use of an international force as a "buffer" between Hezbollah and Israel.

But the prime minister has been under political pressure in Britain for joining President Bush in not publicly calling for an immediate ceasefire.

PHOTO CAPTION

Silhouettes of Lebanese army soldiers are seen on coffins at a mass grave near the Palestinian refugee camp Albass in the centre of southern Lebanon's town of Tyre (Soure) July 21, 2006. The coffins contained the bodies of 76 people killed by Israeli air strikes over the last few days. (REUTERS)