Italy will host a one-day international meeting on the crisis in Lebanon on Wednesday. Following is a list of the participants and a look at the main issues that will be discussed.

WHO WILL BE THERE?

The meeting, co-chaired by Italy and the United States, will be attended by the foreign ministers and top representatives of the so-called core group of advisers on Lebanon -- a group that was set up last year to help with economic reconstruction.

Its members include Britain, Egypt, France, Italy, Jordan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, the United States, the United Nations and the World Bank.

Lebanon will be represented by Prime Minister Fouad Siniora and four ministers.

Germany, Spain, Turkey, Greece, Cyprus and Canada have also been invited while the European Union will be represented by its foreign policy chief Javier Solana and current EU chair Finland.

WHAT IS THE MEETING HOPING TO ACHIEVE?

Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi says his first objective is to secure a ceasefire between Israel and Hizbollah guerrillas based in southern Lebanon.

But some other participants disagree. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has said Washington does not believe in a quick solution and wants a "sustainable" ceasefire.

Lebanese politicians who met her on Monday said she had insisted that any truce would have to be part of a wider deal that included Hizbollah's withdrawal beyond the Litani River, 20 km (13 miles) north of Israel, and the deployment of an international force in the border region.

Israel, which has not been invited to the Rome talks, wants the meeting to condemn the Hizbollah guerrillas as terrorists and has played down any hope of a ceasefire before Hizbollah's military positions are dismantled.

Neither Syria nor Iran -- both accused by Israel of backing and supplying weapons to Hizbollah -- will be in Rome, so it is difficult to see how any truce could be brokered at a meeting not attended by the main players in the conflict.

Italian Foreign Minister Massimo D'Alema has said the talks will also seek to kickstart humanitarian assistance to Lebanese civilians, mainly through the opening of safe corridors for aid to be delivered.

Another issue on the table will be the make-up and leadership of a possible international peacekeeping force to be deployed if and when a ceasefire is in place. (Reuters)