Bush sticks to call for sustainable peace in Mideast

MIAMI, July 31 (Reuters) US President George W Bush said he would seek UN action this week on ending the fighting in southern Lebanon but resisted an immediate cease-fire despite growing pressure a day after a deadly Israeli air strike.

''I assured the people here that we will work toward a plan at the United Nations Security Council that addresses the root causes of the problem so that whatever comes out of the Security Council will be able to last and that the people of Lebanon and Israel will be able to remain in peace,'' Bush said.

''We want there to be a long lasting peace, one that is sustainable,'' he told reporters at a restaurant where he was meeting with Cuban American business leaders.

International pressure for an immediate cease-fire increased after Israel's bombing of the Lebanese village of Qana yesterday that killed at least 54 civilians.

After that attack, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice yesterday brokered a 48-hour partial break in the Israeli air campaign against Hizbollah and was returning from the Middle East to push for a UN Security Council resolution on a permanent cease-fire.

Bush is expected to be briefed by Rice when he returns to Washington later today.

The United States has backed Israel's offensive for the past three weeks while insisting the Jewish state show restraint in its campaign against Hizbollah guerrillas.

Still, Israeli officials have said they planned to step up Israel's campaign against Hizbollah guerrillas until an international force deploys in south Lebanon.

REUTERS LL RK1945