Israel's Olmert says peacekeepers need to be in place for Lebanon offensive to end

(AP) Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Wednesday that Israel's three-week-old offensive in Lebanon will stop only after a robust international peacekeeping force is in place in southern Lebanon.

Olmert also said the release of two Israeli soldiers captured by Lebanon's Hezbollah guerrillas must be unconditional _ signaling that Israel does not favor a prisoner swap.

"Israel will stop fighting when the international force will be present in the south of Lebanon," Olmert told The Associated Press. "We can't stop before because if there will not be a presence of a very effective and robust military international force, Hezbollah will be there and we will have achieved nothing."

The 60-year-old prime minister, speaking in his Jerusalem office, had harsh words for Syrian leaders, calling them "reckless," "immature," and promoters of terror.

He also predicted that the outcome of the Lebanon fighting will create "new momentum" for Israel's plan to separate from the Palestinians, which would be accomplished by an Israeli withdrawal from much of the West Bank.

His comments on the international force were his clearest indication to date that Israel would resist European pressure for an immediate cease-fire. It's not clear how long it will take to put such a force together.

Washington is leading efforts to put together a beefed-up international force that could help the Lebanese army take control of south Lebanon after Hezbollah is pushed northward. But disagreements have emerged between the U.S. and Europe over the issue, with the latter favoring an immediate cease-fire, even before an international force is deployed.

The Bush administration on Tuesday claimed progress in setting up the force, with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice saying an agreement on how to end the fighting was possible within days, not weeks.

Olmert said the force should also be deployed along the Lebanon-Syria border "to prevent the smuggling of arms from Syria to Lebanon as they are doing now."

The conflict, which began after Hezbollah crossed into Israel, capturing two soldiers and killing three others, has already killed at least 532 Lebanese and 57 Israelis.

Photographs of the two captured soldiers, along with a photo of another Israeli serviceman seized by Hamas militants in Gaza on June 25, adorned a table in front of Olmert's desk. The prime minister sat beside a large Israeli flag in his wood-panelled office, which also had photos of past Israeli leaders including Menachem Begin, Yitzhak Shamir, Yitzhak Rabin and Ariel Sharon.

Olmert said his government favors finding a diplomatic solution to the Lebanon conflict but that "Israel is not afraid of fighting."

"No one can intimidate Israel. No amount of rockets and missiles can stop Israel from exercising its fundamental right to self defense," he said, referring to the nearly 2,000 Hezbollah rockets that have fallen on northern Israel since fighting began.

Turning to Syria to help solve the crisis would be useless, he said.

"I don't see that Syria is ready or is even prepared to avail itself to any act of moderation," Olmert said.

Some Mideast observers have said that Syria would be a good address for peace talks because of that country's sway over Hezbollah and the fact that its alliance with Iran, another major Hezbollah supporter, is based more on convenience than shared ideology.

Olmert dismissed criticism of President Bush's refusal to talk to Syria or any other regime it dislikes.

"He (Bush) is doing the most obvious thing. He's fighting the enemies of freedom, he's fighting the enemies of democracy and he's fighting supporters of terror."

Olmert also defended Israel's military operations in Lebanon that have killed more than 460 civilians, saying Hezbollah is targeting Israeli civilians while Israel is trying to avoid killing Lebanese civilians.

"Every time we kill a civilian we consider it as a failure and we are very sorry for it," he said.

Israel's simultaneous offensives against Islamic militants in Lebanon and in the Gaza Strip have raised questions about Olmert's ability to go forward with what was supposed to be the cornerstone of his governing agenda: withdrawing from the West Bank in order to secure a long-term Jewish majority for Israel.

"I'll surprise you," Olmert said. "I genuinely believe that the outcome of the present (conflict) and the emergence of a new order that will provide more stability and will defeat the forces of terror will help create the necessary environment that will allow me ... to create a new momentum between us and the Palestinians."

"We want to separate from the Palestinians," he added. "I'm ready to do it. I'm ready to cope with these demands. It's not easy, it's very difficult, but we are elected to our positions to do things and not to sit idle."

Olmert, a lawyer and former mayor of Jerusalem, has been in power for only four months, taking over from Ariel Sharon, who suffered a devastating stroke last January.

"It's true that I am a new prime minister, relatively speaking," he said. "Though in Israel, every day is like a year in other places."