SYRIA Rejects UN Ceasefire

Well, when a country that is ostensibly not part of the war in Lebanon steps in and declares that the ceasefire proposal is unacceptable, will that finally make some people realize who is pulling the strings? Nah, who am I kidding, we're talking about the clue-proof here.

Anyway, Syria's Foreign Minister has rejected the proposed UN ceasefire.

BEIRUT, Lebanon - Syria's foreign minister declared Sunday that a U.S.-French cease-fire plan was "a recipe for the continuation of the war," between Israeli and Hezbollah, which he said the Jewish state cannot win.

As he spoke, Israeli warplanes struck a few miles away in the Beirut's southern suburbs, a Hezbollah stronghold.

Walid Moallem, on his first visit to Lebanon since Damascus ended a 29-year military presence in its smaller neighbor last year, said only a complete Israeli pullout would entice Hezbollah guerrillas to stop fighting.

Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa landed in Beirut and told reporters at the airport that he came to consult with the Lebanese government on "ways to stop the Israeli aggression on Lebanon."

Moussa, who met earlier in the day in Syria with its president, Bashar Assad, will take part in an Arab League foreign ministers meeting in Beirut Monday.

Moallem, the former Syrian envoy to Washington, said his nation's armed forces were under orders to respond immediately to an Israeli assault.

"If Israel attacks Syria by any mean, on the ground, by air, our leadership ordered the armed forces to reply immediately," he said after emerging from a meeting with Lebanese President Emile Lahoud.

Frankly, Syria and Iran are already at war with Israel, they're just letting Hezbollah and Lebanon do the bleeding. This statement admits that.