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Annan presses Syria on Hezbollah Syria 'to enforce arms embargo'
(about 2 hours later)
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has met Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to seek his help in bolstering the truce between Israel and Hezbollah. UN Secretary General Kofi Annan says he won a pledge from Syria to increase border security with Lebanon and take steps to stop the flow of arms.
Mr Annan was expected to urge Mr Assad to end Syria's backing for the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, and to stop the flow of arms across its border. Mr Annan announced the move after talks with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
He also wants help in securing the release of two Israeli soldiers whose capture sparked Israel's offensive. He said Mr Assad had given his full support to the UN resolution that ended the fighting between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.
Syria is angry about Israeli calls for UN troops on Lebanon's eastern border. But Mr Assad has expressed objections to Israel's call for a UN presence on the border between Syria and Lebanon.
Mr Assad has said any such move would be a hostile act. The foreign minister has threatened to cut all road links to Lebanon if that happens. He says any such move would be a hostile act. The foreign minister has threatened to cut all road links to Lebanon if that happens.
Mr Annan, who in on a tour of the Middle East, met Mr Assad for about an hour, but there was no immediate word on what they discussed. Mr Annan was in Damascus as part of a Middle East tour that on Saturday will take him to Iran, Syria's main regional ally which is also accused of backing Hezbollah.
The secretary general was expected to speak to reporters at Damascus airport before departing for Qatar. On Saturday, he will visit Iran, Syria's main regional ally and also accused of backing Hezbollah. During his hour-long meeting with Mr Assad, Mr Annan also asked for Syria's help in securing the release of two Israel soldiers whose capture by Hezbollah sparked Israel's month-long offensive.
BBC Middle East analyst Roger Hardy says that Mr Annan, unlike the US administration, feels it is important to talk to both Damascus and Tehran. Joint patrols
But he says balancing the competing demands of half a dozen Middle East leaders may be beyond the UN secretary general's power, and perhaps his patience. Speaking to reporters at the airport before departing for Qatar, Mr Annan said Syria had agreed to increase patrols along the Syrian-Lebanese border and "when possible" to start joint patrols with Lebanese troops.
Syria has benefited from Hezbollah's success in surviving its month-long battle with Israel, our correspondent adds, and has no interest in seeing it weakened or disarmed. Mr Assad had agreed to take "all necessary measures" to implement paragraph 15 of UN resolution 1701, which deals with the arms embargo, he added.
The Syrian president has so far made no comment on the talks.
BBC diplomatic correspondent Jonathan Marcus says that while Hezbollah is more closely tied to Iran than to Syria, the Damascus government has given it important practical and political help.
Many of the missiles fired by Hezbollah against Israel were either Syrian-made or supplied via-Syrian territory from Iran, he says, and that is why Mr Annan has been eager to get Mr Assad's support for paragraph 15.
However, our correspondent says that while diplomatic commitments are all very well, Israel and the US will be watching very closely to see what happens on the ground.
Mr Annan has already visited Israel, Lebanon and Jordan, in an attempt to strengthen the fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, which came in effect on 14 August.Mr Annan has already visited Israel, Lebanon and Jordan, in an attempt to strengthen the fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, which came in effect on 14 August.
He has called on Israel to lift its air and sea blockade of Lebanon and withdraw all its troops from the south of the country as soon as 5,000 UN peacekeepers reach the area.He has called on Israel to lift its air and sea blockade of Lebanon and withdraw all its troops from the south of the country as soon as 5,000 UN peacekeepers reach the area.