THE US Secretary of State, Mr Warren Christopher, said yesterday that "difficult problems" remained in the search for a ceasefire in Lebanon. He spoke after meeting Lebanese leaders for the first time in his marathon peace shuttle.
Mr Christopher held 90 minutes of talks under heavy security with the Prime Minister, Mr Rafik al Hariri, and the parliamentary speaker, Mr Nabih Berri, in Chtaura in the Syrian controlled Bekaa Valley. "Difficult problems remain but some of the gaps were narrowed," he told a press conference afterwards.
Asked when a ceasefire could take place in Israel's two week old war on Hizbullah, Mr Berri said: "Give us 48 hours."
Meanwhile, Israeli aircraft and artillery intensified their bombardment of roads in south Lebanon in a bid to isolate Hizbullah rocket launching sites.
The Prime Minister, Mr Shimon Peres, warned that the military offensive would continue until a ceasefire was reached or the army achieved its goals.
Unbowed, Hizbullah fired volley after volley of Katyusha rockets into northern Israel. Some of them slammed into the town of Qiryat Shemona during a visit by Mr Peres.
Mr Christopher has been shuttling between Israel and Syria since Saturday, trying to hammer out a ceasefire agreement and arrangements to bring durable peace to the Israel Lebanon border.
He held his first face to face talks with Lebanese leaders after arriving in the eastern Bekaa Valley from Damascus, where he met the Syrian President, Mr Hafez al Assad.
Mr Christopher had cancelled a trip to Beirut late on Tuesday when Nato officials warned that it would be too dangerous.
"It was vital I come to Lebanon to, reaffirm US support for Lebanon," he said before leaving for Israel via Syria for another round of talks with Mr Peres.
In Washington earlier, President Clinton hinted that a breakthrough was at hand in efforts to negotiate an end to the two week old conflict between Israel and Hizbullah, in which more than 160 people have died.
"We have got some encouraging news but I can't announce that yet," Mr Clinton said after meeting President Elias Hrawi of Lebanon at the White House.
"We are doing everything we can to end the fighting," he said, adding that he would, provide emergency aid to civilians in south Lebanon.
He blamed the conflict on the presence of foreign troops in Lebanon, referring to Syrian as well as Israeli soldiers. "If Lebanon were completely sovereign, free and independent, none of this would have happened."
Mr Peres, too, had voiced optimism. "There are signs of progress in the negotiations and a solution is in sight due to the pressure being put on Syria," he said.
Syria, the main power broker in Lebanon where it deploys 35,000 troops, is seen as crucial to any deal reining in Hizbullah.
But Mr Peres warned that until a ceasefire was agreed, Israeli troops will "pursue their offensive as long as the objectives of the army have not clearly been met".
Officials in Beirut said the main stumbling block was Israel's occupation of a border "security zone" in south Lebanon.
The US plan is based on a strengthened form of a verbal 1993 agreement, brokered by Mr Christopher after the last major Israeli offensive in south Lebanon, whereby Israel and Hizbullah pledged riot to target each other's civilians.
Washington's proposals would add written guarantees.
However, Israel also wants the right to retaliate against any Hizbullah attacks on its security zone", even if they come from civilian villages - something Syria has apparently rejected.
Lebanon and Syria have voiced support for a parallel peace plan promoted by the French Foreign Minister, Mr Herve de Charette, who has also been in the region for more than a week despite Israeli complaints that he is complicating "peace efforts.
The French initiative, likewise based on the 1993 deal, does not seek to ban Hizbullah attacks on Israel's "security zone", but aims to set up international monitoring of a ceasefire deal.
The draft text of a ceasefire agreement involves French as well as American ideas, diplomats said. It "is very close to the French ideas," according to a French diplomat. Another western diplomat said that the final draft would be "American but inspired by the French."
Iran and Syria have also favoured the French plan.
The US plan has been backed mainly by Israel, which has complained that French efforts have complicated the peace drive.
The plans also differ over the establishment of an international diplomatic watchdog committee.
"The committee would be, formed by the United States, France and other countries in association with the parties directly concerned," a French diplomat said.
But the US opposes an observer force, arguing that satellites could monitor any breaches.