Kofi Annan arrived in Beirut today at the start of a diplomatic mission to turn the shaky truce between Israel and Hezbollah into a lasting ceasefire.

Before it landed the United Nations' Secretary-General's plane circled low over the Lebanese capital's devastated southern suburbs, allowing him a panoramic view of the Hezbollah strongholds that were flatttened by Israeli airstrikes during 34 days of conflict.

Mr Annan's first task was to meet Fouad Siniora, the Lebanese Prime Minister, and Nabih Berri, who, as well as being Speaker of the Lebanese Parliament, has played a pivotal role in recent talks as the governmental spokesman for Hezbollah.

"It’s a very critical time for Lebanon and I think it’s important that I come here myself to discuss with the Lebanese authorities the aftermath of the war and also to underscore international solidarity," Mr Annan told reporters at Beirut airport, which partially reopened last week after hurried repairs to bomb damaged runways.

Top of Mr Annan's agenda was to discuss the UN's expanded peace-keeping mission of up to 15,000 international troops for south Lebanon, where the Hezbollah fighters who fiercely engaged the invading Israeli army are still at large.

Last night Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah in Lebanon, said on television that his troops would not submit to being disarmed by the peacekeepers.

Mr Siniora and Mr Berri, meanwhile, will be keen to argue for the Israelis to lift their continued air and sea blockade of Lebanon, which is aimed at preventing Iran and Syria from re-arming Hezbollah with missiles but is stifling the revival of the Lebanese economy and the arrival of supplies.

The fate of two Israeli soldiers kidnapped by Hezbollah fighters in a raid on July 13 - the incident which triggered the conflict - will also be discussed. Sheikh Nasrallah said yesterday that Hezbollah wants them to be exchanged in return for Lebanese and Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, and hinted that talks were being brokered by Italy.

"It seems that Italy is trying to get into the subject. The UN is interested and the negotiations would be through Mr Berri," said Sheikh Nasrallah. The Israelis have however denied that any talks are under way.

Mr Annan's mission will later take him to the south of Lebanon, to see where the fighting occurred, and where the peacekeepers will be deployed as the remaining Israeli forces withdraw. Tomorrow he is due to go to Israel, before moving on to Syria and Iran - states accused of equipping and financing the Hezbollah armed movement and encouraging it to take on Israel.

UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended the conflict, calls for up to 13,000 extra international peacekeepers to bolster the existing 2,000-strong UN observer force in south Lebanon.

So far 7,000 European troops have been pledged, mainly from France - Lebanon's most recent colonial power - Italy and Spain, but the date of the arrival of the peacekeepers remains uncertain. The Spanish parliament, which must give permission before its soldiers can be sent abroad, is due to debate the deployment on September 7, but no time has yet been fixed for a vote.

Today Turkey's Cabinet approved sending troops and said it too would seek its parliament's approval. Turkey - the only Muslim member of Nato, and unique in having close ties with both Arab countries and Israel - has been urged to send troops by both the European Union and the United States.

The proposed deployment has proved controversial, however, and the influential Turkish President has publicly opposed it. Turkey ruled Lebanon for 400 years at the height of the Ottoman Empire.

Frontier security is one of the biggest challenges to the ceasefire. Resolution 1701 calls for Lebanon's ports and airports to be allowed to reopen, while a strict watch is put in place on all Lebanese borders to prevent arms flowing in for Hezbollah. It allows the Lebanese government to call on UN personnel to help with policing the border, but Syria has threatened to close its frontier with Lebanon if UN peacekeepers are put on patrol there.

Jacques Chirac, the French President, said today that restarting the peace talks on the "interminable" Israeli-Palestinian conflict should now be top priority for international leaders, in order to prevent the cycle of violence restarting in the Middle East.

"This unprecedented crisis [in Lebanon] is the product of other impasses," said M. Chirac. "Given the situation, we need an immediate revival of the diplomatic process. To resign oneself to the status quo is to risk being trapped in a cycle of violence which will get out of control."

M Chirac criticised Iran and Syria for isolating themselves, and called on them to work with the rest of the international community towards lasting peace.

Times Recommends

• Michael Jackson: Not the final chapter
• Indian Army spends10m rupees on golf buggies
• Brüno toned down for 15 rating