Monday, July 24 2006 13:16 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Washington: Saudi Arabia called for an immediate Israeli ceasefire with Hezbollah militants as US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice headed to the Middle East for the first time since the crisis began nearly two weeks ago.

Syria, one of Hezbollah's backers, warned that it might enter the conflict if Israel invaded Lebanon and made its own call for a ceasefire, which Washington dismissed.

Saudi Arabia, a close US ally in the Arab world, has accused Hezbollah of provoking the flare-up with its abduction of two Israeli soldiers. But top Saudi envoys stopped short of blaming the Lebanon-based Shiite militia after meeting US President George W. Bush at the White House on Sunday.

"We requested a cease-fire to allow for the cessation of hostilities," US media quoted Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal as saying afterwards.

"The Saudi team proposed a six-point plan that includes an immediate cease-fire and puts off dismantling Hezbollah, the Lebanon-based Shiite militia that sparked Israel's assault by abducting two Israeli soldiers," sources said.

Bush has ruled out a quick-fix ceasefire on the grounds that it would fail to address Hezbollah's threat to Israel and the role played by the group's backers, Syria and Iran.

Rice insisted Friday she would not accept a solution that returns the region to the status quo. The world may be witnessing the "birth pangs of a new Middle East", she said.

Rice, who attended Sunday's talks with the Saudis just before boarding a plane to the Middle East, is to meet Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in Jerusalem on Monday and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday. She also planned to attend a Rome conference with European and officials Arab officials. No meetings were scheduled with Syria or Hezbollah. The New York Times reported Sunday that the Bush administration planned to urge Saudi Arabia and Egypt to pressure Syria to withdraw support for Hezbollah, which operates in southern Lebanon along Israel's border. But al-Faisal seemed cool to any such initiative, naming the Lebanese government's lack of control over Hezbollah as the main issue. "There is only one problem in this crisis: That is Lebanon and the inability of the Lebanese to exercise sovereignty over its territory," she said.

"This is what we both agreed was the primary concern of everybody," she said. The White House gave few details of the substance of the talks, saying the two sides discussed ways to end the violence. Syria, which Washington considers a sponsor of terrorism, warned it would intervene should Israeli ground forces invade Lebanon near the Syrian border.

Syrian officials said Sunday they were ready for direct talks with Washington to try to end the crisis. The United States rebuffed the idea, saying US demands for Damascus were already clear. Syria should use its influence with the Lebanon-based Hezbollah militia to win the release of the abducted Israeli soldiers and to get Hezbollah to stop rocket attacks on Israel, said John Bolton, US Ambassador to the United Nations.

More than 360 people have died in Lebanon since Israel launched its assault on Lebanon after Hezbollah fighters seized two Israeli soldiers on July 12. At least 36 Israelis have died 17 civilians in Hezbollah rocket attacks and 19 soldiers, including eight in the Hezbollah attack and abduction that sparked the conflict.