Foreign ministers or representatives of the 22 member states of the Arab League (AL) expressed their support and commitments to contributing to reconstruct war-torn Lebanon at an extraordinary meeting in Cairo yesterday afternoon.

Fifteen Arab foreign ministers and seven high-ranking representatives from the AL member states attended the meeting, the third of its kind since the violence erupted in Lebanon.

The first meeting took place in Cairo on July 15 while the second was held in the Lebanese capital Beirut on Aug. 7.

At a press conference after the Sunday meeting, AL Secretary General Amr Moussa said that the extraordinary meeting was a proof that the Arab world supports Lebanon and its aim to regain stability and sovereignty over its land.

He added that the Arab world was willing to revive the Mideast peace process only if there was no war nor conflict in the region.

Moussa, who declared the Mideast peace process "dead" after a July 15 Arab foreign minister meeting in Cairo, justified at the Sunday meeting that what was dead was the negotiation process but not the Mideast peace process itself.

The Sunday Arab foreign ministers' extraordinary meeting came one week after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah came into effect on Aug. 14 under UN Security Council Resolution 1701.

Addressing the opening session, Lebanese Foreign Minister Fawzi Salloukh said that the top priority for Lebanon was to guarantee Israel's full withdrawal to the UN Blue Line and the lift of air and sea blockage imposed by Israel.

It was also important to liberate the Shabaa Farms and release the Lebanese detained by Israel, said Salloukh, who also called for Arab and international support to rebuild the war-torn country.

Following Salloukh, Yemeni Foreign Minister Abu-Bakr al-Kurbi called on Arab countries and the Cairo-based AL to set up a mechanism for reconstructing Lebanon.

Al-Kurbi, whose country was the first to call for an emergency Arab summit shortly after the eruption of the Hezbollah-Israel conflict on July 12, said that such a summit should be held as soon as possible.

Kuwaiti Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammad al-Sabah al-Salem al-Sabah also urged Arab countries to contribute to the reconstruction of Lebanon.

Sheikh Mohammad said that Kuwait would offer 800 million U.S. dollars of aid to shore up the Lebanese economy and help rebuild Lebanon.

Prominently, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem didn't attend the Sunday meeting in Cairo.

Al-Muallem's absence came six days after Syrian President Bashar al-Assad slammed some Arab leaders for their policies on the Hezbollah-Israel conflict.

"In the first place we want from our Arab brothers to stand with us... As for those who don't share our vision we only ask them to stand aside... a bottom line (is that) they must not adopt the vision of the enemy toward our issues," Syria's official SANA news agency quoted al-Assad as saying on Tuesday.

Some Arab countries such as Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan initially blamed Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah for its raid on Israeli troops on July 12, which triggered the 34-day-longconflict.

The Israel-Hezbollah conflict, which broke out following the capture of two Israeli soldiers by Hezbollah during cross-border raids, came to a ceasefire on Aug. 14 thanks to the UN Resolution1701.

The UN Security Council unanimously adopted the Resolution 1701 on Aug. 11, which demands an immediate, full cessation of hostilities and authorizes an expansion of the existing UN force in Lebanon to help Lebanese troops take control of south Lebanon while Israel withdraws in parallel.

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan announced on Aug. 12 that the prime ministers of Lebanon and Israel had agreed to stop fighting at 0500 GMT on Aug. 14.

"I am very happy to announce that the two leaders have agreed that the cessation of hostilities and the end of the fighting will enter into force on 14 August, at 0500 hours GMT," Annan said in a statement.