Leaders Urge U.N. Troops For Mideast

Middle East Crisis Overshadows Last Day Of G-8 Summit In Russia

(CBS/AP)  Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is opposed to sending international forces to Lebanon, Israeli senior officials said. Olmert instead wants Lebanese forces to take control of the border area with Israel and wants the Hezbollah militia disarmed.

France said it is sending Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin to Beirut to express support for Lebanon's government. And French President Jacques Chirac, who attended the summit, said he believed "some means of coercion" may be needed to enforce a U.N. resolution that calls for the disarmament of Hezbollah and other militias in Lebanon.

The White House said it had nothing to announce about a trip to the Middle East by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, even though Mr. Bush was overheard telling Blair, "She's going. I think Condi's going to go pretty soon."

Annan, in a joint press appearance with Blair, appealed to Israel to abide by international law, spare civilian lives and infrastructure. "We should not inflict any more suffering on them," Annan said. "Both parties should bear that in mind and respect international humanitarian law."

At his closing G-8 news conference, Blair said that assembling an international peacekeeping force could take time. He said Britain would work with other countries although he called British forces, which are part of the U.S.-led effort in Iraq, as "somewhat stretched."

The comments by Blair and Annan came a day after world leaders forged a unified response at their G-8 summit to the crisis in the Middle East, blaming Hezbollah and Hamas for the escalating violence and recognizing Israel's right to defend itself — although they called on the Jewish state to show restraint.

"I am most pleased that the leaders came together to say, look, we condemn violence. We honor innocent life," Mr. Bush said before heading into a meeting with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. "For the first time, we've really begun to address with clarity the root causes of the conflict ... and that is terrorist activity – namely Hezbollah, that's housed and encouraged by Syria."

Mr. Bush also asserted that the militant Islamic group is financed by Iran. However, the G-8 statement makes no mention of Syria or Iran. Putin told reporters that Russia blocked the effort to name Syria.

"If we don't have enough grounds to blame somebody, we cannot ... put them in documents on such a serious state level just based on assertions," Putin said.