UNITED NATIONS – In a show of support for what Secretary of State Rice called “new Lebanon,” powerful foreign ministers announced yesterday they intended to hold an international conference in Beirut before the end of the year. Representatives of influential Arab regimes joined America and France in welcoming the new government in Lebanon in yesterday’s meeting, sending a powerful signal to Syria.

The foreign ministers, gathered at Turtle Bay for the General Assembly annual debate, met in Secretary-General Annan’s office with Fuad Siniora, the recently elected prime minister of Lebanon. The meeting took place at the same time that President Lahoud, perceived as the last remaining Syrian puppet in Beirut politics, addressed the world body.

In addition to the meeting, Mr. Siniora is expected to meet President Bush and Vice President Cheney tomorrow in Washington. The pro-Syrian Mr. Lahoud, who is considered a head of state, has not been invited to that meeting either. Last week, after Mr. Lahoud received a faxed invitation to a Waldorf-Astoria reception given by Mr. Bush, the State Department recalled the invitation extending the honor only to Mr. Siniora.

It was “very important” that Mr. Siniora was the one invited to the meeting with the American, British, French, Italian, Russian, Egyptian, Saudi, and European Union representatives, Ms. Rice told reporters. She described it as “a session with the international friends of Lebanon who are in favor of a new Lebanon, a Lebanon that is, in fact, free of foreign interference and influence, a Lebanon that is able to comply with its international obligations and a Lebanon that is able to make the reforms, economic and political, that need to be made.”

Lebanon is “at a threshold of a new dawn,” Mr. Siniora said. “With the good will and support of the international community and the determination of the Lebanese people, we have a real chance of achieving our goals.”

In the aftermath of the political process that began with the so-called Cedar Revolution, Lebanon might go through a rough financial patch. Syria, which has been a major source of oil for its neighbor during years of occupation, has now ended all oil subsidies. According to the Lebanese newspaper An-Nahar, the country spends $642,000 on oil each day.

Asked why the World Bank was represented at yesterday’s meeting, its president, Paul Wolfowitz, told The New York Sun, “Money.” It is not clear how much of it is expected to be raised in the upcoming conference, however. “It’s not about money,” said Mr. Annan’s spokesman, Stephane Dujarric, adding that the meeting, rather, was “designed to send a message of support for the people and the government of Lebanon.”

The presence of Saudi Arabia and Egypt showed that recognition of the legitimacy of the elected Lebanese government was now gathering steam in the Arab world, where in the past many have hesitated to confront the powerful Syrian Baath regime of President Assad.