Hillary Clinton, US Secretary of State, will hold a conference with the UAE over the ongoing BlackBerry dispute.

The United Arab Emirates is going to prevent sending emails, accessing the internet and delivering instant messages to other BlackBerry handsets.

Authorities are not happy that they are unable to monitor such encrypted communications via the handsets.

Mrs Clinton said that authorities need to balance “legitimate security concerns” with “right of free use and access”.

"We are taking time to consult and analyse the full the range of interests and issues at stake, because we know that there is a legitimate security concern," Mrs Clinton said.

"But there is also a legitimate right of free use and access.

"So I think we will be pursuing both technical and expert discussions as we go forward," she added.

Mrs Clinton did not mention Saudi Arabia, which is supposed to prevent the use of the BlackBerry-to-Blackberry instant messaging service.

Lebanon has joined an expanding list of countries with concerns about the use of BlackBerry phones. The country's Telecoms Regulatory Authority said it will assess security concerns about the device.

The nations of the Middle East are displeased that they not able to monitor such communications via the handsets.

This is due to the fact that BlackBerry handsets automatically send the encrypted data to computer servers outside the two countries.

The UAE ban is to begin in Octover, while the Saudi band starts on August 6.

Abdulrahman Mazi, a board member of the state run Saudi Telecom, admitted that the decision is intended to instill some pressure on Blackberry's Canadian owners, research in Motion (RIM), to give over some data from the users' communications “when needed”.

The UAE's telecoms regulator, TRA, said the lack of compliance with local laws raised “judicial, social and national security concerns”.

RIM said that it "does not disclose confidential regulatory discussions that take place with any government".

"However, RIM assures its customers that it is committed to continue delivering highly secure and innovative products that satisfy the needs of both customers and governments."

There are about 500,000 BlackBerry users in the UAE and 400,000 in Saudi Arabia.

TRA said some BlackBerry services will be suspended in October "until a solution compatible with local laws is reached".

"It's a final decision but we are continuing discussions with them," said TRA director general Mohammed al-Ghanem.

"Censorship has got nothing to do with this. What we are talking about is suspension due to the lack of compliance with UAE telecommunications regulations."

It follows an alleged attempt by TRA last year to try and install spyware on all BlackBerry handsets.

In 2007, RIM refused TRA access to the code for RIM's encrypted networks so it could track email and other data.

Media freedom watchdog Reporters Without Borders said that while the UAE was playing a “technological leadership role in the Arab world", this was backed by "repressive laws" and a "general trend of intensified surveillance".

India has also shown concern over security issues with the BlackBerry data services, claiming they could be exploited by militants.