UPDATE 1-U.S., Swiss justice officials meet amid UBS probe

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WASHINGTON, March 2 (Reuters) - Switzerland's justice minister and a top U.S. Justice Department official met to discuss "international finance issues" on Monday, the Justice Department said as Washington seeks to crack open the secrecy of major Swiss bank UBS (UBS.N).

Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf of Switzerland and Acting Deputy U.S. Attorney General David Margolis met before Widmer-Schlumpf held talks with U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, who has recused himself from a federal UBS investigation into charges UBS helped U.S. customers avoid tax laws.

Schlumpf, who has said UBS would be on the agenda for her talks in Washington, was expected to discuss her meetings at a Swiss Embassy briefing shortly.

UBS, the world's largest banker to the rich, agreed last month to pay a $780 million fine and disclose the identity of about 300 of its U.S. clients to avert criminal charges that Swiss regulators said would have put the bank's existence at risk.

But a day after the agreement, U.S. tax authorities said they were still pursuing a civil lawsuit against UBS, seeking to access the data of another 52,000 Americans it says are hiding about $14.8 billion in assets in Swiss bank accounts.

The suit threatens to undermine the vaunted secrecy of Swiss banks. Eugen Haltiner, who heads Swiss regulator FINMA, has equated the dispute between Berne and Washington to an "economic war," fueled by the spiraling financial crisis.

Despite the dispute, the U.S. Justice Department said Holder thanked Widmer-Schlumpf for Switzerland's offer for help with closing the Guantanamo Bay prison for terrorism suspects, including possibly accepting detainees held at the facility.

They also discussed cooperation on fighting organized crime, terrorism and terrorist financing, the department said.

(Reporting by Randall Mikkelsen, editing by Philip Barbara)