EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana will visit the Middle East later this week to discuss efforts to stop the fighting in Lebanon, a spokeswoman said on Wednesday, according to Reuters. Solana's itinerary is still being worked out and he is expected to meet leaders in the region, said the spokeswoman. Solana has been in constant contact with key players, including Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan, the spokeswoman said. Solana considered "very positively" a decision by the Lebanese government to deploy troops to the south, she said. "It's a step in the right direction for peace and to restore Lebanese sovereignty," she said. "All constructive ideas that are helpful to end the conflict need to be analysed and taken into consideration." The spokeswoman said Solana was working with EU members at the U.N. Security Council to accommodate Lebanese demands as much as possible in a resolution aimed at ending the conflict. Lebanon wants an immediate ceasefire and a quick pullout of Israeli troops from the south, where it says 15,000 Lebanese soldiers backed by U.N. peacekeepers can move in.
