Bush Says Any Mideast Peace Reached `Must Be Real' (Update3)

By Roger Runningen and Demian McLean

July 27 (Bloomberg) -- President George W. Bush said any cease-fire achieved between Israel and Hezbollah militants in Lebanon must be sustainable and not subject to later flare-ups caused by terrorists.

``We're working hard diplomatically,'' Bush told reporters during a meeting with Romanian President Traian Basescu at the White House. ``As soon as we can get this resolved, the better. But it must be real, and it can't be fake.''

A meeting in Rome yesterday of U.S., European and Arab foreign ministers failed to agree on an international force for southern Lebanon that could help end hostilities.

``The Middle East is littered with agreements that just didn't work,'' Bush said, and peace efforts are complicated by terrorist groups, including al-Qaeda, working to undermine Arab democracies in Lebanon and Iraq.

``Hezbollah attacked Israel,'' Bush said. ``I know Hezbollah is connected to Iran, and now is the time for the world to confront this danger.''

Al-Qaeda's second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahiri, in a taped message aired on the Arabic television station Al-Jazeera early today, called for a wider war against Israel. He said the terrorist network wouldn't stand by while ``these shells burn our brothers'' in Lebanon and Gaza.

`Jihad'

Zawahiri urged Muslims worldwide ``to fight and become martyrs in the war against Zionists and the crusaders. The war with Israel does not depend on cease-fires. It is a jihad for God's sake'' until Islam prevails from Spain to Iraq.

``I'm not surprised people who use terrorist tactics would start speaking out,'' Bush said.

Earlier, White House spokesman Tony Snow dismissed as hypocritical the al-Qaeda leaders' pleadings for an all-out attack on Israel and its supporters, including the U.S.

``There is a certain amount of hypocrisy in the claims of Mr. Zawahiri to be a defender of Islam, when many of the things that he has done have led to the murders of Muslims around the world by his own jihadists,'' Snow said at a briefing. ``And it's his attempt to stay in the game.''

While the Central Intelligence Agency hadn't confirmed the tape's authenticity, Snow the administration presumed it was authentic.

To contact the reporters on this story: Demian McLean in Washington at dmclean8@bloomberg.net ; Roger Runningen in Washington at rrunningen@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: July 27, 2006 19:36 EDT

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