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American soldiers will not be dispatched to Haiti, despite pleas for help from the United Nations, U.S. officials said.

WASHINGTON - United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan has issued a private plea for U.S. troops for Haiti, underscoring an urgent need to stem rising violence so that successful elections can be carried out.

But even as the United States remains concerned and is closely monitoring developments, there are no plans to add American soldiers to the 7,400-strong multinational U.N. peacekeeping force already in place, officials said Thursday.

''We continue to believe that a focused and robust response by MINUSTAH [the U.N. peacekeeping force] is the key to security in Haiti and will lay the groundwork for successful elections and economic growth in the lonng term,'' said a State Department spokesman.

Annan's request, made Tuesday during a meeting with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, comes as Haiti's capital city of Port-au-Prince is besieged with deadly shootouts and kidnappings. The lawlessness is hampering preparations for elections later this year to replace the interim government installed after President Jean-Bertrand Aristide fled amid an armed revolt 1 ½ years ago.

Most of the turmoil is emerging from slums teeming with armed gangs still loyal to Aristide.

The U.N. Security Council has approved the dispatch of an additional 1,000 troops made up of rapid-response units to bring an end to the violence, which has triggered fierce gun battles between U.N. peacekeepers and street thugs.

On Wednesday, at least six gunmen were killed during an eight-hour offensive carried out by Brazilian troops in Bel-Air, one of the capital's toughest slums.

According to the Washington Post, Annan told Rice that he may have to ask for American ''boots on the ground'' in the coming months to reinforce the Brazilian, Chilean, Argentine and other peacekeeping forces now serving in Haiti.

Annan told Rice that American forces were needed because Haitians ''respect the U.S. military,'' the Post reported.

But the State Department said that what is needed is ''robust'' operations like the one carried out in Bel-Air.

''We believe that the additional number of troops and police provided for [by the U.N.], combined with the focused effort targeting those violent actors who are creating the instability in Haiti, like the operation we saw carried out in Bel-Air, will establish a secure environment,'' said the spokesman, who cannot be identified due to State Department policy.

``It is essential that the [U.N.] Secretary General work with troops and police contributors to ensure that MINUSTAH reaches its new force ceiling quickly to safeguard the electoral process, particularly ongoing voter registration and campaigning.''

Miami Herald