Talks stuck on Hezbollah arms

Talks between feuding Lebanese factions foundered on the second day of Qatar-hosted meetings on Lebanon's 18-month political crisis, as Hezbollah stuck yesterday to its refusal to discuss any possibility it would give up its weapons.

The US-backed Lebanese government, meanwhile, was determined to get assurances that the militants would not again turn their guns on the Lebanese people, as they did in street violence last week.

On a visit to Egypt, US President George W. Bush rallied world leaders yesterday to back Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora's government, and declared Hezbollah "the enemy of a free Lebanon and all nations".