JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Unwelcome in Lebanon after an Israeli bombing that killed dozens of children, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice cut short her peace mission on Sunday without calling for an immediate ceasefire to end the war.
Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora said he did not want her to come to his country for planned meetings on Sunday, saying that after Israel's air strike, he could not hold any talks on resolving the crisis before an immediate ceasefire.
Rice's renewed push to end fighting between Israel and Hizbollah was derailed by the bombing in southern Lebanon, which killed at least 54 people sheltering in a basement, 37 of them children.
"In the wake of the tragedy that the people and the government of Lebanon are dealing with today, I have decided to postpone my discussions in Beirut. In any case, my work is here (in Israel) today," Rice told reporters of the canceled Beirut trip.
Rice, who will leave for Washington on Monday after a week of Middle East diplomacy, insisted she had canceled the Lebanon trip and not the other way round. U.S. officials said they were still in close contact with Siniora's office.
A U.S. official said Rice wanted to go back to Washington to focus on getting a U.N. resolution for a "sustainable and durable" ceasefire.
She said she was "deeply saddened" by the Israeli bombing of the village of Qana in southern Lebanon, but did not call for an immediate ceasefire.
Rice said instead she would work "very hard" to try to end the hostilities. At least 542 people have been killed in Lebanon, though the health minister estimated the toll at 750 including unrecovered bodies. Fifty-one Israelis also have been killed.
