Foreign Ministers from Arab and Western countries are in Rome for an international conference on Wednesday on the Israel-Hezbollah conflict in Lebanon.
A key goal of the one-day conference will be to arrange a ceasefire.
Top representatives from 18 nations and international organizations will attend the conference, co-chaired by the Italy and the United States. The U.S. opposes an immediate ceasefire.
Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi says talks will also focus on deploying an international force in southern Lebanon, and the refugee issue. At least 600-thousand people have been displaced in the two-week-old conflict.
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan says he would like to see a package agreed on at the conference that includes a ceasefire, the deployment of an international force, and the release of two Israeli soldiers captured by Hezbollah.
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who is in Rome for the meeting, Tuesday repeated the U.S. position that a cessation of hostilities must come with conditions so peace is sustainable. She spoke after meetings with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
About 400 Lebanese people and almost 50 Israelis have died in the fighting since July 12th.
A key goal of the one-day conference will be to arrange a ceasefire.
Top representatives from 18 nations and international organizations will attend the conference, co-chaired by the Italy and the United States. The U.S. opposes an immediate ceasefire.
Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi says talks will also focus on deploying an international force in southern Lebanon, and the refugee issue. At least 600-thousand people have been displaced in the two-week-old conflict.
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan says he would like to see a package agreed on at the conference that includes a ceasefire, the deployment of an international force, and the release of two Israeli soldiers captured by Hezbollah.
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who is in Rome for the meeting, Tuesday repeated the U.S. position that a cessation of hostilities must come with conditions so peace is sustainable. She spoke after meetings with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
About 400 Lebanese people and almost 50 Israelis have died in the fighting since July 12th.