Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora made a stopover in Cyprus last night on the way to Rome where an international meeting is to be held on Wednesday over the Lebanon crisis.

Siniora, who heads a Lebanese delegation including six cabinet ministers, was welcomed by Cypriot Interior Minister Andreas Christou, UN Special Representative in Cyprus Michael Moller and Lebanon's Ambassador to Cyprus Michel El Khoury at Cyprus' Larnaca Airport.

Siniora will head to the Italian capital after the brief stop in Cyprus.

The Lebanese prime minister is expected to urge for an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah group.

Violence in Lebanon erupted on July 12 when Hezbollah guerillas kidnapped two Israeli soldiers and killed eight others during cross-border attacks.

Siniora has said that the conflict has displaced about 750,000 people, almost one-fifth of Lebanon's population.

More than 350 Lebanese and 42 Israelis have been killed in the two-week-old violence.