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Fri 07 Jul 2006Annan critical of Israel in call for immediate ceasefireUnited Nations secretary general Kofi Annan has called for an immediate halt to violence in Lebanon, telling Hizbullah that it must release captured Israeli soldiers and warning Israel that its actions are weakening the Lebanese government, writes Denis Staunton in New York.Mr Annan told the UN Security Council that Hizbullah's capture of two Israeli soldiers and its rocket attacks on Israel had triggered the crisis and set back the prospects for peace in the Middle East.