Syria President Bashar al-Assad, whose country is widely believed to funnel arms to the Lebanese Shia group, vowed to help implement UN Security Council Resolution 1701, he 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 undertaken in their meeting 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, while Assad had agreed to international personnel providing 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.

There was no immediate comment from Damascus itself or from Israel on the Annan-Assad talks.

The UN resolution which halted Israel's month-long war in Lebanon calls for an arms embargo against Hezbollah along with the deployment of Lebanese and international troops in south Lebanon to monitor the Israeli border.

Syria, a staunch backer of Hezbollah, has been accused along with Iran of supplying weapons to the Shia group, a charge it denies.

Damascus last month threatened to close its border with Lebanon if UN peacekeepers were deployed on it under the UN resolution that led to the August 14 ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel.

Annan said he also discussed with Assad 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.

Annan's 10-day tour is aimed at implementing Resolution 1701 which halted the 34-day conflict that killed more than 1,200 people in Lebanon, overwhelmingly civilians, and 160 Israelis, mostly soldiers.

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

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

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.

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.

"We do not abandon soldiers on the battlefield," read white banners emblazoned in red hanging behind a stage in Rabin Square.

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 was 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.

Lebanon's mass-circulation daily An-Nahar hailed the pledges as a "a double victory, economic and political", over Israel.

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

In Israel, Defence Minister Amir Peretz called for the establishment of a state commission to probe the failures of the Lebanon war, putting him publicly at odds with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

Despite public pressure, Olmert announced Monday that a government inquiry would examine the running of the Lebanon war, but stopped short of ordering a more powerful state commission.