'US-Syria talks key to ending Lebanon crisis'

"Washington's strategy of pressure, isolation and implicit threats of regime change has backfired," the Brussels-based group said in a policy review on Lebanon, adding to a growing chorus of calls for the US to engage Syria.

"Damascus has proved it may destabilise Lebanon if what it considers its vital interests are ignored or if it feels cornered. There can be no stable solution for Lebanon without a viable solution for Syria," it said.

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But Washington accuses Syria of undermining Lebanon's fragile democracy by funding and training the militant group Hezbollah, and letting extremists into Iraq, and US President George W. Bush has dismissed calls for talks.

Syria was for decades the powerbroker in its smaller neighbour until public outcry over the February 2005 slaying of ex-premier Rafiq Hariri led to the exit of Syrian troops months later.