UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said on Monday he wanted the two Israeli soldiers whose capture by Lebanese Hizbollah guerrillas sparked a 34-day war with Israel to be released under Red Cross auspices.
In Beirut as part of a Middle East trip to promote a lasting cease-fire, Annan also said he would ask Syria this week to set up diplomatic ties with Lebanon and police its side of their border against arms smuggling.
"It is important that the borders are protected and there are no attempts to rearm," Annan told a news conference.
"Lebanon has seen too much conflict. There are too many arms in the country. We don't need any more."
He urged Hizbollah to hand over the captured Israelis to the Lebanese government or a third party via the International Committee of the Red Cross.
Annan, due in Israel on Tuesday, is seeking progress on all the issues involving Israel, Lebanon and Hizbollah in UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which calls for an expanded United Nations peacekeeping force to cement the August 14 truce.
He again urged Israel to lift its six-week-old sea and air blockade of Lebanon and said he was satisfied with steps taken by the Lebanese government to police its borders.
Earlier, Annan had separate talks with Prime Minister Fouad Siniora and parliament speaker Nabih Berri, a key ally of Hizbollah, which has nominated him to negotiate on its behalf. Annan also held separate talks with Energy Minister Mohammed Fneish, one of two Hizbollah cabinet ministers, a Lebanese official said. The UN resolution authorised up to 13,000 soldiers to join 2,000 UN troops already in Lebanon and help 15,000 Lebanese troops police a border zone free of Israeli or Hizbollah forces.
The new force's role was a central topic in Annan's talks with Siniora, as was removing the Israeli blockade.
BLOCKADE: "We expect good to come out of these talks," Siniora told reporters afterwards. "On lifting the blockade, this thing is going to happen, God willing, but not within 24 hours." Israel says it will keep up the air and sea restrictions until an arms embargo on Hizbollah is enforced. It wants UN troops to guard Lebanon's 375 km (233 mile) border with Syria.
"We discussed... the arrival of the international forces and the Israeli withdrawal that must happen quickly," Siniora said. Plans for the UN force firmed up after Annan met European foreign ministers who on Friday pledged up to 7,000 troops - enough to ensure the expanded force will have a European core.
Turkey agreed in principle to join the force, a spokesman in Ankara said. He gave no figures. Turkish media suggested this month Turkey could send 500 to 1,000 non-combat troops.
Berri, who said he had complained to Annan about Israeli truce violations, could play a key role in any negotiations to swap Lebanese prisoners for two Israeli soldiers whose seizure in a cross-border raid on July 12 triggered the war.
Hizbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah spoke on Sunday of contacts that might lead to talks on a prisoner swap. He also called for a national unity government, without demanding more power for Hizbollah.
His main Christian ally, retired General Michel Aoun, told a news conference on Monday it was time for the Siniora government to go and appeared to threaten unrest if it did not do so.
"We hope ... a very peaceful change takes place, preserving stability in the country. If this change does not happen in such a way, there are other ways to escalate from now on," he said.
In Damascus, US civil rights leader Jesse Jackson met exiled Hamas leaders to try to broker a swap between Israel and Palestinian militants holding another Israeli soldier.
Hamas politburo member Mohammed Nazzal, whose movement forms the Palestinian government, told Reuters Jackson had met the group's leader Khaled Meshaal on Sunday night.
"We insist that any exchange of prisoners must be simultaneous, which is the main sticking point," Nazzal said.