Rice arrives in Beirut

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice made an unannounced visit to Beirut on Monday in a show of support for that country's weakened democracy, which is struggling to contain the fighting between the Hezbollah militia and Israel.
Rice planned to meet with Lebanese Prime Minister Faud Saniora, other leaders of his government and members of parliament about the surge in fighting along the southern border in the last two weeks.
Her visit is intended to make a show of support and concern for both the Saniora government and the Lebanese people, administration officials said.
She also plans to talk with Lebanese leaders about how the central government can gain control of the entire country.
Rice has said her trip this week to the region will find ways to get much humanitarian aid to Lebanon. She plans to announce U.S. financial aid in her stops.
Under heavy guard, Rice flew over the Mediterranean from Cyprus. She has still arrived resisting international pressure to call from an immediate cease-fire.
As Rice's motorcade sped through Beirut on the way to her meeting with Saniora, aides said the idea to stop in Lebanon was Rice's.
R. Nicholas Burns, U.S. undersecretary of state for political affairs said Monday that Rice will seek to use "our influence to see if there can be a cessation of hostilities."
However, he told, any cease-fire would have to be long-lasting and involve a removal of Hezbollah rockets on the U.S.-Lebanese border and a return of Israeli soldiers taken captive.