WASHINGTON (AP) - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will lay out U.S. plans for a diplomatic solution to the Israeli-Hezbollah fighting Friday, an administration official said. Rice plans a trip to the Mideast as soon as early next week, and will carry the U.S. strategy for ending the 10-day-old warfare and establishing stability in southern Lebanon, a senior Bush administration said. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because Rice has not yet made her plans public.
The secretary is expected to detail her itinerary and agenda in Washington later Friday.
The plans emerged following two days of meetings in New York with United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan and envoys he sent to the region this week. Although Annan called Thursday for an immediate cease-fire, that is opposed by the United States. The Bush administration says the United States and the U.N. agree on the wider diplomatic goals for the region.
Earlier, White House press secretary Tony Snow said the administration is working hard to end violence in the Mideast and that criticism of its measured response is coming from people who want "egg-timer diplomacy."
"Nobody has been more active than we have," said Snow, defending administration policy amid continuing U.S. opposition to a quick cease-fire without built-in steps for longer-term stability in both Israel and Lebanon.
Making the rounds of the morning network news shows a day after Rice went to the U.N., Snow said most of the peacemaking efforts have been behind the scenes.
Meanwhile, Israel resumed airstrikes Friday and prepared for a possible ground invasion, warning people in the south to flee.
Asked on NBC's "Today" show whether Washington was trying to discourage Israel from any notion of a ground invasion, Snow replied: "We have not been doing military collaboration or planning with the Israelis. But what we have been doing instead is urging the Israelis to use restraint."
Also, the White House announced on Friday that British Prime Minister Tony Blair, a leading U.S. foreign policy ally, will meet with Bush next Friday at the White House. The Middle East crisis will be high on the agenda.
The administration also made plans to press for another Senate vote on U.N. ambassador John Bolton, whose temporary appointment expires at the end of the year.
A key Republican who had opposed Bolton 's confirmation before, Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio, said he would now support Bolton for the post, citing the tense Middle East situation and what he said was Bolton's good performance.
Bolton's nomination remains before the Senate. Snow said White House officials are discussing with Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Richard Lugar, R-Ind., how to proceed—whether to begin committee hearings again or to try to bring Bolton's nomination up directly for a Senate vote without new hearings.
Bush appointed Bolton during a congressional recess in 2005 after Senate Democrats and Voinovich blocked a vote.
On the Middle East violence, Snow on Friday urged patience with the administration's methodical approach.
"The people who are talking about too little, too late, they may not be keeping the diplomatic scorecard," he told NBC.
"Everybody who wants this kind of egg-timer diplomacy, who thinks, OK these things ought to happen quickly, you don't understand human nature," Snow said. "Terrorists are not going to say, 'You know, that's right, I'm going to pick another career.' "
"Many times, they're going to fight to their death, and we hope that doesn't happen in Lebanon."
