George W. Bush on Tuesday warned Syria to stay out of Lebanon as he signalled to Israel that it would have more time to carry out its military campaign against Hizbollah as long as it did not bring down the Lebanese government.

The US president’s assurances to Israel that it was allowed to defend itself from Hizbollah’s rocket attacks came as Condoleezza Rice, secretary of state, prepared to travel to the region, possibly at the end of the week.