TOKYO, JULY 24, SPA -- LEBANON SEEKS AN IMMEDIATE CEASE-FIRE IN THE NEARLY TWO-WEEK OLD ISRAELI MILITARY CAMPAIGN AGAINST HEZBOLLAH IN THE COUNTRY’S SOUTH AS WELL AS A «PERMANENT» SOLUTION TO THE COUNTRY’S PROBLEMS, LEBANON’S AMBASSADOR TO JAPAN SAID MONDAY. THE ISRAELI ASSAULT, INITIATED AFTER HEZBOLLAH KILLEDEIGHT AND CAPTURED TWO ISRAELI SOLDIERS IN A CROSS-BORDER RAID ON JULY 12, HAS RESULTED IN THE FIGHTING THAT HAS LEFT HUNDREDS OF CIVILIANS DEAD, MOSTLY IN LEBANON. LEBANON IS NOW A «DISASTER ZONE» AND REQUIRES AN«IMMEDIATE HUMANITARIAN CEASE-FIRE,» LEBANESE AMBASSADOR TOURIF JABER TOLD REPORTERS IN TOKYO, REPEATING A REQUEST MADE SUNDAY BY PRIME MINISTER FOUAD SINIORA. THE LEBANESE GOVERNMENT IS CALLING ON THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY TO HELP IT PROVIDE FOOD, MEDICINE AND OTHER SUPPLIES TO AID THE MORE THAN 500,000 PEOPLE WHO HAVE BEEN DISPLACED IN THE FIGHTING, JABER WAS QUOTED AS SAYING BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS. JABER ALSO CONDEMNED THE ISRAELI ASSAULT AS «BARBARIC,» SAYING IT HAS LEFT MORE THAN 400 PEOPLE DEAD AND MORE THAN 1,100 WOUNDED, AS WELL AS DESTROYED HOSPITALS, MOSQUES, CHURCHES, AND OTHER CIVILIAN FACILITIES. --SPA 24/07/2006 12:12 ت م www.spa.gov.sa/377796