Top German official: Delegation to Lebanon for captives

German majority head, Volker Kauder, promises to act towards breakthrough in negotiations for release of kidnapped soldiers. 'Others just make promises. I intend to act differently,' he says. Demands of Olmert to stop Israeli flyovers above Lebanon

Gil Yaron|Published: 10.31.06 , 20:18

Volker Kauder, chairman of Germany's majority party, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), spoke with Ynet on Tuesday and said that while many other statesmen have already visited with the Goldwasser and Regev families to make promises only to forget about them later, he intends to act differently.

Kauder, who is visiting Israel for the first time, promised that immediately upon his return to Berlin he will ask Chancellor Angela Merkel to bring up the issue of the kidnapped soldiers in her regular talks with Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora.

He added that he will also summon the Lebanese ambassador for a personal meeting and make sure that the Bundestag (the German parliament) will dispatch a special delegation to Lebanon in order to bring back proof of life from Hizbullah.

We understand that without making progress on this issue there will be no political breakthrough in the Middle East, he said.

The families of kidnapped Israeli soldiers Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev have called on the Red Cross organization to demand proof of life from Hizbullah. The families and key figures vying for their release say that the fact that no proof of life has been received violates UN Security Council resolution 1701 and should serve as a warning sign for the Israeli government.

"While the government has realized all military and humanitarian ceasefire demands, Hizbullah has not moved towards fulfilling the most basic steps," said representatives speaking on behalf of the families.

Kauder joins chorus demanding cessation of flyovers

Kauder met with numerous politicians, including Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. He expressed Germany's absolute support of Israel's right to exist, but was not afraid to criticize "our good friends the Israelis."

Kauder spoke with Olmert about last weeks incident, during which IDF fighter planes came to meet a German helicopter which had taken off from a navy vessel off the Lebanese coast without coordination. The German visitor accepted Olmert's apology but simultaneously demanded the immediate cessation of IAF flyovers above Lebanon.

Kauder said that this does not contribute to the atmosphere and substantially weakens the international and Lebanese forces operating in the area. These flights are detrimental to Israel's stated interest in the deployment of regular Lebanese forces in southern Lebanon, he added.

Israel's position is that the flights will not stop as long as Hizbollah continues to smuggle arms across the Syrian border into Lebanon. Kauder says that he asked to see evidence of these claims but so far no one has shown him anything. As long as this claim is not proven, he says, Israel has no reason to violate the UN resolution.

Senior sources from Olmert's office told Ynet that during the last government meeting the PM also demanded to see the incriminating data proving that there was a weapons leak from Syria into Lebanon, but that the IDF Intelligence Department has yet to comply.