Special Report: Israel-Lebanon conflicts
BERLIN, July 23 (Xinhua) -- German Chancellor Angela
Merkel ruled out here on Sunday sending German troops as part of a possible UN
peacekeeping force to Lebanon.
"I don't envisage this at the moment," she told ZDF
TV, but adding there was a big difference between the present military conflict
in Lebanon and the question of what would happen after a truce.
Merkel noted that a main reason for the current
crisis was the international community's failure to sufficiently aid Beirut in
disarming militant Hezbollah fighters as stipulated in UN Security Council
Resolution 1559.
German politicians have been discussing calls by UN
Secretary Kofi Annan to expand UN peacekeepers in southern Lebanon to prevent
Hezbollah from firing rockets at Israel.
More than 350 people have been killed in Lebanon in
Israeli military operation, over 1,000 injured and at least 500,000 people
evacuated since the fighting began on July 12.
In Israel, 36 people, including 17 civilians, have
been killed in the conflict. Enditem
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