DAMASCUS - UN chief Kofi Annan said Friday that Syria would respect an arms embargo against the militant group Hezbollah, during a stop in Damascus on a Middle East tour aimed at bolstering a truce in Lebanon.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, whose country is widely believed to funnel arms to the Lebanese Shiite militia, vowed to help implement UN Security Council Resolution 1701, Annan said.

"The president committed to me that Syria shall take all necessary measures to implement in full paragraph 15 of Resolution 1701 (which) deals with the arms embargo and rearmament" of Hezbollah, Annan told reporters.

He said the Syrian leader had agreed to help secure the border with Lebanon by increasing the number of guards deployed there and by establishing liaison mechanisms with the Lebanese army and border police.

Syria would also establish, where possible, joint border patrols and control points with Lebanese authorities, and Assad accepted that foreign personnel would provide technical assistance to the Lebanese.

"Syria is an important regional player, the international community is looking to Syria to play a constructive role in this crucial period," the UN chief said.

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem described the talks as "productive and constructive".

"If the international community is sincere in its efforts to reach a just and comprehensive peace in the region, there is currently an opportunity which can be seized," he said.

The UN resolution that halted Israel's month-long war in Lebanon called for an arms embargo against Hezbollah along with the deployment of Lebanese and international troops in south Lebanon to ensure the ceasefire held.

But last month, Damascus threatened to close its border with Lebanon if UN peacekeepers were deployed on the Lebanese side of the frontier.

Also on the agenda was the establishment of diplomatic relations between Syria and Lebanon.

"The president informed me that Syria is prepared to establish normal diplomatic relations with Lebanon ... and that Syria is prepared to go ahead with the delineation of its border with Lebanon," Annan said.

That could include the disputed Shebaa Farms district, located at the junction of Lebanon, Syria and Israel, and captured by the Jewish state during the 1967 Middle East war.

Although the tiny territory is now claimed by Lebanon with the approval of Syria, the United Nations wants Damascus to sign a formal document to that effect.

Around 20 kilometers (13 miles) away, Lebanese soldiers dug into positions Friday near the town of Kfarshuba, below an Israeli outpost that dominates the area.

Annan's 10-day tour is aimed at implementing the UN resolution which halted a 34-day conflict that killed more than 1,200 people in Lebanon, overwhelmingly civilians, and 160 Israelis, mostly soldiers.

The UN's top human rights body appointed a three-member panel of diplomats to probe "systematic targeting and killings" of civilians by Israel, as well as whether particular weapons used by the Israeli military conformed with international law.

The decision three weeks ago to set up the inquiry team was controversial, amid fears that it could upset painstaking diplomatic moves which led to a ceasefire on August 14.

In the Mediterranean, five ships carrying nearly 2,500 Italian troops reached the Lebanese coast on Thursday. The troops were to make a beach landing in the southern coastal city of Tyre on Saturday, a UN spokesman said.

They are part of the vanguard of an expanded UN force that will eventually total up to 15,000 troops.

Spain approved the deployment of up to 1,100 soldiers, which would make it the third largest contributor, after Italy and France, which plans to provide 2,000.

Indonesia said Friday it would send up to 1,000 troops, after Israel eased its previously blanket objection to the participation of countries with which it does not have diplomatic relations.

The Turkish government was to ask parliament Friday to authorise the deployment of an unspecified number of troops as well.

In Israel, tens of thousands rallied in Tel Aviv late Thursday, putting pressure on the government to secure the release of two soldiers captured by Hezbollah and a third held captive by Gaza militants.

Annan said Assad backed the release of Israeli soldiers but called in turn for the return of Syrian prisoners in Israel.

Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora, who is demanding the end of an Israeli air and sea blockade, has said his government has not been contacted by Israel for negotiations on the two soldiers seized by Hezbollah.

Siniora made the comments in Stockholm, where donor nations on Thursday pledged 940 million dollars in aid to help Lebanon rebuild smashed infrastructure, shelter the homeless and remove unexploded Israeli ordnance.

Annan, who has already visited Lebanon, Jordan and Israel, left Syria after meeting Assad and travelled to Qatar, before stops in Iran, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Turkey.

In Moscow, the foreign ministry said that Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will also visit the Middle East next week, with stops in Lebanon, Syria, Israel and the Palestinian territories.

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