Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice gestures during a news conference near President Bush's Crawford, Texas ranch, Sunday, Aug. 6, 2006

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says she hopes to see a vote in coming days on a U.N. draft resolution aimed at ending fighting between Israel and Hezbollah militants.

She said the resolution is an important first step to ending large-scale attacks, adding she expects some skirmishes will continue.

The U.N. Security Council was to meet Sunday to discuss the draft which calls for an immediate end to Hezbollah attacks on Israel and a stop to offensive military operations by Israel.

It also urges the "disarmament of all armed groups in Lebanon."

On a visit to Beirut, Syria's Foreign Minister Walid Moallem rejected the U.N. resolution as what he called a "recipe for the continuation of war."

Lebanese officials have criticized the draft for failing to require Israel to withdraw its forces from Lebanon.

Iranian state media reports that President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad phoned his Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad to discuss mediation efforts.

In Damascus, Mr. Assad also held talks with Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa about ways to end fighting.

The U.N. resolution seeks an international peacekeeping force to police a buffer zone in southern Lebanon, once a long-term agreement political agreement is reached.

Some information for this report was provided by AP and Reuters.