Agence France Presse – BERLIN, Jan 24, 2006 (AFP) – German Chancellor Angela Merkel will visit the Middle East next Sunday and Monday for talks expected to touch on the Iranian nuclear crisis, the government said on Tuesday.
Merkel will visit Israel and the Palestinian territories in her first trip to the region since taking office in November, her office said, adding that the details of her programme were still being negotiated.
Government spokesman Thomas Steg said Merkel was expected to raise concerns about the recent anti-Semitic outburts of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Tehran’s decision to resume sensitive nuclear work.
Germany, France and Britain have been negotiating with Tehran for more than two years amid Western concerns that the Islamic Republic is trying to develop nuclear weapons.
Steg said Germany was trying to find a peaceful resolution to the standoff along with its European partners, as well as Russia and China.
The European troika earlier this month called for the matter to be referred to the United Nations Security Council, a step opposed by Moscow and Beijing.
