Germany's foreign minister on Saturday welcomed as «a significant step» a U.N. resolution aimed at helping end fighting in the Middle East, and urged Israel and Lebanon to accept it «without delay.» «The chance that offers itself now must not be wasted,» Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said in a statement. The resolution calls for a full cessation of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah, and authorizes 15,000 U.N. peacekeepers to help Lebanese troops take control of south Lebanon as Israel withdraws. «The U.N. Security Council has taken a significant step for the stabilization of the situation in the Middle East in approving the resolution,» Steinmeier said, adding that it is important now for «all parties to implement quickly the demands of the Security Council.» «Approval from the government in Israel and Lebanon, in particular, should now come without delay,» he said. «The suffering of the people in the region must come to an end.» Steinmeier did not address the question of whether Germany might contribute to an international stability force. German officials have said they cannot consider a contribution until a mandate is in place, the Associated Press reported.
