Germany wants Gaza open and Gilad Shalit freed
German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle urged Israel on Monday to end its blockade of the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip and called on the Islamist group to free captured soldier Gilad Shalit. In the first visit by a German minister to the enclave in several years, Westerwelle said it was unacceptable that Israel had blockaded 1.5 million people for three years.
"Germany has a clear vision. We support an end to this blockade. We stress the importance of the resumption of imports and exports," he told a news conference after visiting a United Nations-run school and a sewage treatment facility. (Reuters)
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