"What is most urgently needed is an immediate cessation of hostilities," Annan told the Security Council upon his return to UN Headquarters.

He hoped the end of the violence would prevent further loss of innocent life and the infliction of further suffering, allow full humanitarian access to those in need, and give diplomacy a chance to work out a practical package of actions that would provide a lasting solution to the current crisis.

However, the secretary-general was blunt in describing the findings of the mission he sent to the region, headed by his Special Adviser Vijay Nambiar.

"Let me be frank with the Council," he said. "The mission's assessment is that there are serious obstacles to reaching a ceasefire, or even to diminishing the violence quickly."

At the same time, Annan sternly criticized what Hezbollah has done, saying "Hezbollah's provocative attack on July 12 was the trigger of this crisis."

"They hold an entire nation hostage, set back prospects for negotiation of a comprehensive Middle East peace," he observed.

Meanwhile, Annan objected any analogy between the current Lebanese government and Afghanistan under the Taliban, saying such kind of analogy is "wholly misleading."

"It deserves, and must receive, all possible support from the international community," he added.

Despite the fact that "a full ceasefire remains difficult to achieve at this time," the UN chief said the international community must make its position clear on "the need for an immediate cessation of hostilities, and a far greater and more credible effort by Israel to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure while the conditions for such a cessation are urgently developed."

He thus called for the stop of fighting against each other between Hezbollah and Israel, the release of the abducted soldiers, and access of humanitarian assistance to civilians in Lebanon with Israel's cooperation.

Annan also stressed the importance of continuing diplomatic efforts "to develop a political framework which can be implemented as soon as hostilities cease.

"Most people in the region rightly reject a simple return to the status quo ante, since any truce based on such a limited outcome could not be expected to last," he argued.

The secretary-general said that the team has suggested elements which must form the political basis of a lasting ceasefire, and on which they have conducted consultations with the leaders of Lebanon and Israel.

Those elements include the transfer of the Israeli soldiers and an ensuing ceasefire. Meanwhile, an expanded peacekeeping force would work to stabilize the situation on the Lebanese side of the Blue Line.

In addition, the Prime Minister of Lebanon would unequivocally confirm to the secretary-general and the Security Council that his country will respect the Blue Line in its entirety until agreement on Lebanon's final international boundaries is reached.

Annan emphasized that only the simultaneous implementation of the different elements of the package he put forward will allow for the transformation of any cessation of hostilities into a durable ceasefire.

"When this is achieved, the international community will need to develop a framework for the final delineation of the borders of Lebanon and a decisive revival of the Middle East peace process," he concluded.