China's special envoy on Middle East issues, Sun Bigan, will
visit Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Egypt and Saudi Arabia from August 6,
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Qin Gang announced in Beijing
Friday.
Sun will exchange views with different parties on regional
issues, especially the situation in Lebanon, in a bid to help ease
tensions in the region, Qin said.
Israel has intensified its air raids on Lebanese targets since
launching a massive assault on July 12 after Lebanon's Hezbollah
guerillas kidnapped two Israeli soldiers and killed eight in
cross-border attacks.
The number of casualties continues to rise.
On July 25, during an Israeli offensive in southern Lebanon, a
UN peacekeeping post was bombed, killing four UN observers from
China, Finland, Austria and Canada.
On July 30, over 50 Lebanese civilians, most of them women and
children, were killed in an Israeli air raid on the Lebanese
village Qana.
Israel has so far not agreed to a ceasefire in its Lebanon
offensive.
(Xinhua News Agency August 4, 2006)
