Annan pushes for immediate ceasefire

Kofi Annan called for an immediate ceasefire in the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah at a peace conference in Rome Wednesday.


U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice discusses the Mideast crisis with United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan at La Farnesina Foreign Ministry in Rome, Wednesday, July 26, 2006. Senior officials from the United States, Europe and several Arab nations met in Rome Wednesday hoping to end fighting between Israel and Hezbollah. Under discussion will be calls for a cease-fire and the possible deployment of a multinational force on Lebanon's border with Israel and help in disarming Hezbollah guerrillas. AP/Sandro Pace photo via Yahoo News.

The U.N. secretary-general on Tuesday had characterized an Israeli airstrike that killed U.N. observers as "apparently deliberate."

His position on an immediate ceasefire is at odds with the Unites States and Britain who want the fighting to continue apparently hoping that Israel will 'wipe out' Hezbollah.