MEDIATION IN TATTERS

Rice, who was in Israel, said she was saddened by the Qana air raid, but stopped well short of calling for an immediate ceasefire. Her mediation drive in tatters, Rice will leave for Washington on Monday to work on a U.N. resolution that could achieve what the White House called a "sustainable" ceasefire.

She also said the Qana raid showed the critical need for Israel to take "the utmost care" to avoid civilian casualties.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair said fighting had to stop once a U.N. resolution demanding a ceasefire was passed. "What has happened in Qana shows this is a situation that simply cannot continue," he said.

Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora said he would not hold negotiations before a ceasefire, scuppering Rice's visit. Rice later said she had called off her trip to Beirut.

Siniora, often at odds with Hizbollah, thanked its leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and "all those who sacrifice their lives for the independence and sovereignty of Lebanon".

Qana is already a potent symbol of Lebanese civilian deaths at Israeli hands. In April 1996, Israeli shelling killed more than 100 civilians sheltering at the base of U.N. peacekeepers in Qana during Israel's "Grapes of Wrath" bombing campaign.

International outrage over that attack helped force Israel to end its 17-day campaign that killed more than 200 Lebanese.

SLAIN IN THEIR SLEEP

Police said Qana, about 11 km (seven miles) from the border with Israel, was bombed at 1:30 a.m. (2230 GMT Saturday). The raid flattened a three-storey building where more than 60 displaced people were in the basement. Many died as they slept. "Why have they attacked one- and two-year-old children and defenceless women?" asked one bereaved man, Mohamed Samai.

The bodies were wrapped tightly in plastic sheets and assembled under an awning. Flowers were placed on the corpses.

Israel said it was unaware civilians were in the building and accused Hizbollah of firing rockets from Qana.

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