US President Bill Clinton urged Israel and Syria on Friday to resume peace talks amid recently intensified violence along the Lebanon south border.

"It seems to me that it is a sober reminder of why we ought to resume the peace process with great determination," Clinton said at the White House. "The comprehensive peace between Syria and Lebanon and Israel is the only way, ultimately, to resolve the continuing difficulties over many years now along the border."

Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah guerrillas have exchanged fires for several days with Hezbollah using rockets and mortars to attack Israel's army base and Israel launching its heaviest air raids in eight months, destroying three power stations. The violence sparked international anxiety over the future of Syrian-Israeli peace talks, stalled since January.

Clinton said both Syria and Israel were interested in getting an agreement and they were trying to keep restraint.

But Secretary of State Madeleine Albright laid the blame on Syria and Hezbollah, saying Syria should do more to curb the Lebanese guerrilla group.

"I have talked to the Syrian foreign minister about using all possible influence that they might have to restrain them (Hezbollah guerrillas),"Albright told a sidewalk news conference on

Capital Hill after testifying on the Clinton administration's request for $22.8 billion for international spending next year.

She made implicit criticism of the Syrians, saying: "They have tried, but they need to work harder."

State Department spokesman James Rubin said Syria has "influence with Hezbollah." "At this point, it is our view that the evidence is clear they need to exercise their influence more

effectively," he added.

With fear rising that the recent fighting would destroy hopes for resuming Syrian-Israeli talks, the United States said it would send Middle East envoy Dennis Ross to the region next week.