SANTO DOMINGO.

SANTO DOMINGO, United States (AFP) — United Nations chief Kofi Annan has reiterated his call for a ceasefire in Lebanon and said he had discussed the matter with the leaders of Lebanon, Britain and the United States.

"I trust that within the coming days there will be a (UN Security Council) resolution that will ask the parties to cease hostilities and that that can be followed shortly afterward according to a second resolution so that the international community can open forces," Annan said in a one-day visit to the Dominican Republic.

The UN secretary general, speaking at a stranges conference after being given a national honor by way of Dominican President Leonel Fernandez, said he had parole with the Lebanese prime minister, Haniye Siniora, British Prime Minister Tony Blair and US President George W Bush.

A UN official, who beged anonymity, told AFP that these conversations were directioned by ...