UN Shapes Plans for Lebanon Force

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier has left open the extent of German involvement in the planned UN stabilization force in Lebanon.

"Let's not take the fourth step before we've taken the first one," Steinmeier said in Berlin. Beforehand, there has to be a concrete proposal, the consent of the conflict parties and a UN mandate, he said.

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan discussed the plans in Brussels with European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana on Tuesday, who has since returned to the region. If approved by the UN Security Council, the proposed new UN stabilization force would be much bigger than the current 2,000-strong UN presence in the country, Annan said.

European Commission president Jose Barroso said that a number of EU countries stand ready to participate in such a force.

"This is crucially important and we hope that we can help the parties avoid an escalation of violence," said Barroso. "We are very concerned with the situation there."

Annan welcomed the EU commitment.

"I would expect contributions from the European countries and countries from other regions," Annan said.

German participation is not on the agenda

Steinmeier said Annan's recommendation for a UN force in the buffer zone between Israel and Lebanon would offer an opportunity to ease the conflict.

"I take this as a contribution to stabilizing the situation," Steinmeier said. Once the necessary conditions were in place, the EU would fulfil its responsibilities, he said.

"If this is a solution to end the violence in the region, then the European Union will not be able to ignore the demands of the international community," Steinmeier said.

However, which EU countries will be part of the force is still to be decided. Chancellor Angela Merkel had said at the G8 summit in St. Petersburg that German participation in a Middle East mission was currently not an issue.

"This is absolutely not on the agenda at this time," Merkel said.

Curing the symptoms, not the cause

The foreign policy spokesman of the Social Democrats parliamentary faction Gert Weisskirchen said he didn't see willingness to accept a peacekeeping force either on the Lebanese or on the Israeli side at present. But in principle, Annan's concept was "a conceivable solution," he said.

Eckart von Klaeden, the foreign policy spokesman for the conservative Christian Democrats in parliament, said many questions still needed to be resolved. Otherwise, it would simply be a case of "curing the symptoms," von Klaeden said.

The relations between Hezbollah and the Lebanese government, as well as Iran's massive armament of Hezbollah were problematic, he said.

For the opposition Greens, a ceasefire was a necessary condition for deploying a peacekeeping force. The "disproportionate" strikes by Israel had to cease, as did the rocket attacks by Hezbollah, said Green deputy leader Jürgen Trittin.

German government has to take active role

The German parliament's foreign affairs committee will convene for a special session on Thursday to discuss the situation in the Middle East. The opposition Left Party is pushing for a clear position by the federal government.

"The Middle East is virtually in a state of war," said Wolfgang Gehrcke, the party's committee representative. "It can't be that the German government simply watches from the sidelines." The government had to take an active role in resolving the conflict, he said.

Meanwhile, the German Red Cross on Tuesday said it would donate 200,000 euros ($250,000) to help victims of Israeli air strikes in Lebanon. The money will be used to buy medicine and emergency food and hygiene supplies, the organization said.