UN, defying US, urges quick Middle East cease-fire

UNITED NATIONS, July 19 (Reuters) Israel and Hizbollah must stop fighting before a broader settlement of the conflict can be reached, a top UN official said today, clashing with the United States which said a cease-fire made little sense.

The UN call came hours after Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said his country's military campaign against Hizbollah guerrillas would continue ''as long as necessary'' to free two captured soldiers and ensure the group was no longer a threat.

''What there needs to be now is a cessation of hostilities,'' UN Deputy Secretary-General Mark Malloch Brown told reporters, a day after France suggested the Security Council adopt a resolution calling for a cease-fire underpinned by political and security steps.

''The Middle East is littered with the results of people believing there are military solutions to political problems in the region,'' Malloch Brown said.

Council members said they were waiting for a briefing by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Thursday before deciding on next steps. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was having a private dinner with Annan on Thursday, UN officials said.

Washington frowns on the idea of a cease-fire now. US Ambassador John Bolton said a cease-fire between a state and a ''terrorist group'' like Hizbollah made little sense. He said the council should instead focus on disarming Hizbollah and extending Lebanese government control over all its territory.

'WE'RE NOT COLLUDING,' SAYS WHITE HOUSE In Washington, White House spokesman Tony Snow said the United States was not engaged in military strategy sessions with the Israelis, ''sitting around at the war map saying, 'Do this, this and this.''' ''We're not colluding, we're not cooperating, we're not conspiring, we're not doing any of that,'' he told reporters.

''The Israelis are doing what they think is necessary to protect their borders.'' Malloch Brown said international action should come in phases, starting with ending the killing of civilians.

Afterward would come negotiation of a longer-term settlement and a possible enhancement of UNIFIL, the UN peacekeeping mission in southern Lebanon since 1978 that has been largely ineffective in stopping cross-border attacks.

The United Nations and some nations have proposed an international force as part of a cease-fire agreement that would be larger and have a more robust mandate than UNIFIL.

Asked about France's proposal, Bolton told reporters, ''It is very hard to understand from the people calling for a cease-fire how you have a cease-fire with a terrorist organization like Hizbollah.'' ''I am not sure that conventional thinking about a cease-fire makes any sense when you are dealing with a terrorist group that fires rockets at civilian populations and kidnaps innocent Israelis,'' he added.

Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora has repeatedly appealed for an immediate cease-fire, stating on Wednesday that more than 300 people had been killed and more than half a million displaced in his country since Israel launched its offensive last week after Hizbollah militants captured two soldiers and later rained rockets on northern Israel.

Reuters YA GC0154