The coffin of Pierre Gemayel was passed overhead through the crowd into the church, handed from mourner to mourner, while in the square nearby hundreds of thousands of supporters unleashed their anger, burning pictures of Syria’s president and his allies in Lebanon.

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said “serious negotiations” were under way over the fate of two Israeli soldiers whose July 12 capture by the militant group sparked a month of brutal fighting in Lebanon.

Italian prime minister Romano Prodi visited his country’s peacekeepers in south Lebanon today, becoming the first head of government to visit the region since the Israel-Hezbollah war.

Thousands of Lebanese protesters shouted angry chants and accused British Prime Minister Tony Blair of complicity in last month’s Israeli bombardment of Lebanon as he arrived today in a country still reeling from 34 days of fighting.

Hezbollah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah said he would not have ordered the capture of two Israeli soldiers if he had known it would lead to the Lebanon war.

Hezbollah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah today said that “contacts” for negotiations on a prisoner swap between Israel and Hezbollah guerrillas had begun.

Lebanon’s defence minister has said he is certain Hezbollah would not break the cease-fire but warned rogue Palestinian groups of harsh measures and a traitor’s fate if they incited Israeli retaliation by launching rockets into the Jewish state.

Lebanon’s defence minister today warned that any group breaking the ceasefire with Israel would be “decisively dealt with” and considered a traitor.

Hezbollah guerrillas unleashed their deadliest barrage of rockets yet into northern Israel, killing at least 15 people, while Israeli bombardment killed at least 14 people in southern Lebanon as fighting only intensified despite a draft UN ceasefire resolution.

PROTESTERS, angered by the Israeli air strike in Qana that killed up to 50 refugees, broke into the main UN building in Beirut yesterday, burning UN and American flags.

Israeli forces kept up their offensive in Lebanon today, with troops battling Hezbollah for control of a southern town as their jets flattened a house in an unrelated strike and killed seven civilians.

US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice will lobby Israeli leaders today in an attempt to silence the guns and halt the bloodshed on both sides of the Lebanese border.

In a surprise visit to Beirut today, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice praised the beleaguered prime minister of Lebanon for his courage in struggling to contain the fighting between the Hezbollah militia and Israel.

Leaders of Lebanon’s rival factions agreed today to demand that Syria establish diplomatic relations, but continued to spar over the fate of the country’s president and the disarmament of the militant Hezbollah group.

Lebanese President Emile Lahoud appointed the anti-Syrian coalition’s candidate Fuad Saniora as prime minister today to head the first Cabinet in 30 years to be free of Syrian interference.

Lebanon’s newly-elected parliament re-elected a pro-Syrian, Nabih Berri, as speaker today in a move seen as a political compromise by the anti-Syrian coalition which won the recent elections, the first conducted without Syrian influence in 30 years.

LEBANON’S main parliamentary blocs have agreed to back the re-election of Nabih Berri, virtually guaranteeing the strong Syrian ally will secure the post of parliament speaker, political sources said yesterday.

Hezbollah and its Shiite allies declared themselves victorious in southern Lebanon in today’s second stage of national elections.

WITH Syria's nearly three decades of military involvement over, Lebanon yesterday announced that the first round of parliamentary elections would be held May 29, two days before the deadline.

With Syria’s nearly three decades of military involvement in Lebanon over, Lebanon today shifted its attention inward, announcing the first round of parliamentary elections would be held May 29, two days before the deadline.

LEBANON President Emile Lahoud looks set to ask outgoing pro-Syrian prime minister Omar Karami to form a government, a step sure to anger the anti-Syrian opposition who pressured him to resign in the first place.

Lebanese President Emile Lahoud is urging Russia help to restart the stalled Middle East peace talks.