"Today we recall the memory of those we lost and we reaffirm our partnership with the Lebanese people", said Rice in the commemoration of 25th anniversary of the bombing of the US Embassy in Beirut.

Delivering her remarks in the Benjamin Franklin Room in the State Department, Rice Rice reaffirmed the US commitment to the Lebanese people and "their desire for a sovereign, democratic and prosperous nation".

"The Lebanese deserve to live in peace and the United States is dedicated to this task and will continue to champion the peaceful aspiration of the Lebanese people", she added.

On April 18, 1983 a van loaded with explosives drove into the east entrance of the US Embassy in Beirut killing over 60 people inside, of which 32 are Lebanese embassy staff, 14 visitors, and 17 Americans from the State Department, Army, and Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

"Innocent people were stolen from us in a moment of terror", said a seemingly emotional Rice.

"On a day so filled with heartbreak, you gave us a cause for hope", she added.

Two attacks followed on US interests in Lebanon, bombing of the Marine barracks on 23 October 1983 and the bombing of the US embassy annex in Beirut in 10 September 1984.

Rice affirmed the "terrorists never broke our will".

"It is said by some that America withdrew from Lebanon in the 1980s but all of us know better, though we have moved but we never left", she added.

Rice credited this to the diplomatic corps "who remained on the frontier" of US presence in Lebanon.

"Lebanon have seen many wars, too many assassinations, and too many lives lost", she said.

She noted that many Lebanese parliamentary had to take refuge in a hotel "after watching one after the other being gunned down on the streets and claimed by terrorist bombs".

"This should be an unacceptable situation to all nations, and it is certainly unacceptable for the United States", said Rice.

Also attending the commemoration, Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near East Affairs Jeffrey Feltman, senior advisor to the Secretary of State and coordinator for Iraq David Satterfield, Under Secretary for Management Patrick Kennedy, in addition to former US Ambassador to Syria Richard Murphy and Dillon.

The Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) General Michael Hayden, two members of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and David Adams were there along the family of the victims.

The Senate also passed last Tuesday Resolution 516 to remember the victims of the bombing and "reiterates its support for the people of Lebanon and their government as they seek to build a better future from the threat of terrorist violence". -Kuna