(Recasts with Rice quotes, new throughout) By Arshad Mohammed PARIS, June 26 (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora on Tuesday and praised him for tackling Lebanon's many problems. Lebanon is mired in a political crisis that pits Siniora's Western-backed government against opponents led by the pro-Syrian Shi'ite Hezbollah and Amal factions. In addition, recent fighting between the Lebanese army and al Qaeda-inspired militants in north Lebanon has complicated the crisis and sparked the worst outbreak of internal violence in the country since the end of its civil war 17 years ago. "The point that I wanted to make to him was how much we admire his leadership. He has led his country through some extraordinarily difficult times," Rice told reporters as she flew home from Paris. The United States has pledged economic and military aid to Siniora's government and has provided ammunition in recent weeks as it has battled al Qaeda-inspired Fatah al-Islam militant group at the Nahr al-Bared camp near Tripoli. The fighting has killed at least 179 people -- 82 soldiers, 60 militants and 37 civilians. Rice acknowledged the relative fragility of the Siniora government, which is trying to rebuild the country following last year's war between Israel and Hezbollah guerrillas and to extend its authority in to Hezbollah-dominated south Lebanon. "It's always difficult and always, in some sense, fragile. But what's remarkable about this government is they keep responding to the challenges and and overcoming them," Rice added. Siniora was in Paris to meet new French President Nicolas Sarkozy. Rice came to France for a meeting on the crisis in Darfur, met Siniora over breakfast for about an hour and a half on Tuesday, and then returned to Washington. Rice played down the idea that Siniora, along with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, might lose standing among their populations if they are seen as too closely allied with Washington. She stressed that other countries -- including Arab nations like Saudi Arabia -- had also worked to support him. "The United States is supporting these governments but it's not as if the United States either chose them or is the only international partner supporting them -- in a couple of those cases, the Arabs are way out in front of us," she said. (Additional reporting by Crispian Balmer)
