1. Exterior in High Shiite council building

2. Convoy carrying French Foreign minister Bernard Kouchner arriving

3. Kouchner meets Shiite official, walks in

4. Various of meeting with Vice President of the High Shiite Council Abdul Amir Kabalan

5. SOUNDBITE: (French) Bernard Kouchner, French Foreign Minister:

"Don't make France responsible for your own problems, that's too easy. We are ready to stand by you as long as you talk of peace. And so, some are surprised that I'm not supporting enough one country in this region, or that I attack too much or that I'm not supporting enough one this community or that of this country or that I'm attacking it too much. France is a fair force, and we have heavily supported a resolution that will be presented to the United Nations for a international tribunal so that those behind the assassination of Prime Minister Rafik Hariri can be bought to justice."

6. Convoy with Kouchner leaves

7. Wide of Lebanese Prime Minister's office

8. Various of meeting between Lebanese Prime Minister Faud Saniora and Abbas Zaki, PLO representative in Lebanon

9. Wide of meeting between Palestinian factions in Lebanon, Sunni Mufti Mohammed Kabini (with white headwear)

10. Mid of officials at meeting

11. Close of Hamas representative Osama Hamdan

12. Mid of Zaki and Kabini

13. Zaki at news conference

14. Mid of official

15. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Abbas Zaki, PLO representative in Lebanon

"We as Palestinians condemn this phenomenon (Fatah Al-Islam) and we are boycotting them in all circumstances and we are seeking to find a coherent solution for the crisis in Nahr el-Bared. The coming days and hours will see a mutual agreement for an understanding based on the united position of the Palestinian factions that will lead to some procedures with the army to face this phenomenon with as least losses as possible."

16. Mid of news conference

Diplomatic efforts continued on Friday to attempt to resolve the current crisis in Lebanon as sporadic gunfire exchanges punctured the lull in the fighting as the Lebanese army continued to build up around the Nahr el-Bared refugee camp near the port city of Tripoli.

New French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner continued talks with rival political factions on the country's deepening turmoil, meeting with Vice President of the High Shiite Council Abdul Amir Kabalan.

"Don't make France responsible for your own problems, that's too easy. We are ready to stand by you as long as you talk of peace," he said at a news conference after the meeting.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Fuad Saniora who on Thursday vowed to wipe out al-Qaida-inspired Fatah Islam, met with Abbas Zaki, the principal PLO representative in Lebanon on Friday.

Zaki also met with the leaders of other Palestinian factions including Hamas representative Osama Hamdan, and Sunni Mufti Mohammed Kabini.

After the meeting of these officials Zaki repeated his strong condemnation of Fatah Al-Islam.

"We are boycotting them in all circumstances and we are seeking to find a coherent solution for the crisis in Nahr el-Bared," he said.

"The coming days and hours will see a mutual agreement for an understanding based on the united position of the Palestinian factions that will lead to some procedures with the army to face this phenomenon with as least losses as possible."

Military aid began arriving on Friday after the United States said it will rush supplies to the Lebanese army battling Fatah Islam.

Activity on Friday morning in Nahr el-Bared appeared to indicate either a preparation to storm the camp, a maze of narrow streets and tightly packed residential buildings where hundreds of Fatah Islam militants are holed up, or a tightening of the siege to force them to surrender.

More than half of the 31-thousand Palestinian civilians of the Nahr el-Bared refugee camp, mainly women and children, have fled but thousands still remain trapped inside.

The fighting in Lebanon, which erupted Sunday when police raided suspected Fatah Islam hideouts in Tripoli while searching for men wanted in a bank robbery, has killed some 50 combatants and many civilians.