International Herald Tribune

U.N. chief visits Syria to press for government help in preventing rearming of Hezbollah

The Associated PressPublished: August 31, 2006

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DAMASCUS, Syria Hezbollah's key backer Syria told visiting U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Thursday it supports the shaky cease-fire that halted 34 days of fighting between the guerrillas and Israel.

Syria also called for Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon and an end to the Israeli blockade of that country, according to an official report after talks between Annan and Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem.

For his part, Annan was expected to press Syria to join international efforts to stop the flow of arms across its border to Hezbollah and urge Syrian authorities to do what they can to help win the release of Israeli soldiers captured by the guerrillas in a July 12 raid that sparked the war.