Let me start by telling you how delighted I am to be back in Lebanon. As you know, I am visiting the region as part of the continuing search for a negotiated settlement of the Middle East conflict within the framework of United Nations Resolutions.

I am glad that a cease-fire is now in place between Israelis and Palestinians. But a cease-fire will not last unless it is seen by both sides as being part of a broader political process. I believe the Mitchell Report recommendations offer a possible route back to such negotiations. But the opportunity may not last long. We must seize it while it is there. To do so, we need stability and calm throughout the region.

Lebanon has as strong an interest as anyone in lasting peace and stability in the region. And your leaders have an important part to play in ensuring that calm prevails. I am therefore very glad to have the opportunity of meeting them today. We have much to talk about.

The whole international community must now maximize its efforts to bring about a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in the region, based on Security Council Resolutions, in particular, 242 and 338.

Q: How do you see the stability in south Lebanon after you talks with President Assad yesterday?

SG: I think President Assad, like all of us, hopes to see calm and stability on the border in Lebanon and this is an issue that I have also raised with Israeli authorities. I think all of us have a responsibility to respect the Blue Line and avoid any violations there and I think it is in everyone's interest.

Q: Mr. Secretary-General, during your visit to Lebanon, is there any meeting between you and Mr. Hassan Nasrallah?

SG: We have not arranged yet any such meeting.

Q: Are you going to talk about the Israeli detainees in the Hizbullah area?

SG: I have just met the families of the Lebanese prisoners in Israeli jails and, as I indicated, this is an issue I have raised many times with the Israeli government and I intend to raise it with the Prime Minister when I go back to Israel.

Question to the Foreign Minister: Mr. Minister, what do you say as you receive the Secretary-General and are there issues that Lebanon will raise with him?

FM Mahmoud Hammoud (translation from Arabic): I would first of all like to welcome the visit of His Excellency UN Secretary-General in Lebanon during these times and circumstances the region is passing through, mainly following the ongoing Intifada which has been going on for more than eight months and following the Palestinian demands to regain their full rights. We support the Palestinians' firm positions and the decisions of Arab summits, mainly those related to the Palestinian right to establish an independent Palestinian State on their national land, with Jerusalem as its capital. In addition to that, we have issues which begin by achieving a peace settlement based on the Madrid formula, international legitimacy resolutions and the principle of land for peace. These are among our firm positions and this is our strategic choice, in addition to the call for the implementation of United Nations resolutions related to completing the withdrawal from Lebanese territories, and also regarding the Golan Heights and the withdrawal to the June 4, 1967 border and as I have already mentioned, the Palestinian rights. The United Nations is aware of this position. We reaffirm this position. But what is of interest to us in this visit is to listen, and we will listen well, to the Secretary-General's assessment of the situation in the entire region towards what is important to the international peace and security, because the UN Secretary-General, as you well know, as stipulated in the UN Charter and within his duties, he is a partner in the search for the best means to reinforce international peace and security. We thank the Secretary-General for this visit and we welcome him once again. And our cooperation with the United Nations will be in the interest of both Lebanon and the United Nations and UN-Lebanese relations at different levels political, economic and social given the capabilities and resources the United Nations can make available to assist Lebanon following the liberation of the bulk of Lebanese territory. Thank you. *****