Three Chinese Peacekeepers Injured In Hezbollah Rocket Attacks
Shaveta Bansal - All Headline News Staff Writer Beijing, China (AHN) - China has urged Israel and Lebanon to declare an immediate ceasefire and demanded the United Nations to ensure better security for peacekeepers in the conflicted Mid-east. The demands came after three Chinese were wounded during a rocket attack in southern Lebanon on Sunday. A Chinese officer confirmed that the peacekeepers were injured by a Hezbollah rocket in the village of Henniyeh, the official Xinhua News Agency said. "The rocket landed near our post at 11:55 am (0855 GMT) as an Israeli military unit passed by a village close to the post," Luo Fuqiang, head of the Chinese contingent with the UN Interim Forces in Lebanon (UNIFIL), was quoted as saying. The reports of the attack came just hours after China's Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing told U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan in a telephone conversation that the world body should take tangible measures to ensure the security of U.N. peacekeepers, Xinhua said. China's Foreign Ministry also said that it made representations to Israel and Lebanon, demanding they both take concrete measures to better protect peacekeepers. China's special envoy on Middle East issues, Sun Bigan, began a five-nation tour of the Middle East Sunday in an effort to reduce tensions in the region. Sun was to visit Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Egypt and Saudi Arabia, the government announced earlier.
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