U S urges restraint after Qana but not ceasefire

WASHINGTON, July 30 (Reuters) The United States today urged Israel to take more care to avoid civilian casualties in Lebanon after an air strike killed 54 people in the village of Qana, but continued to resist calls for an immediate cease-fire.

In a statement, the White House said that US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was working to arrange the conditions for a ''sustainable'' halt to the violence.

''This was a terrible and tragic incident,'' White House spokesman Blair Jones said, referring to the bloodiest single attack in Israel's 19-day-old war on Hizbollah in which 37 children were among those killed.

''We continue to urge the Israeli government to exercise the utmost care so as to avoid any civilian casualties. This tragic incident shows why this is so critical.'' The United States is under increasing pressure from European and Arab allies to call for an early truce, though so far it shows no sign of softening its stand that a cease-fire cannot preserve the status quo.

Both the United States and Israel want to make sure that any solution leads to the removal of Hizbollah from the border and its eventual disarmament under a U N resolution, though it is unclear the guerrilla group would accept the force.

''We extend our condolences to the families of the Qana victims and to all the people of Lebanon,'' Jones said.

Images of bodies wrapped in plastic sheets have fueled anger in Lebanon and the Arab world and prompted Beirut to cancel a planned visit by Rice, who is now in Israel.

''Secretary Rice is in the region now and is seeking to arrange the conditions that would permit a sustainable cessation of violence as soon as possible,'' the White House statement said.

REUTERS SKU RN2058