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German ministers to visit Israel and Gaza
Jun 10, 2011, 11:45 GMT
Berlin - German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle is to visit Israel next week, with Aid Minister Dirk Niebel visiting the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip at the same time, officials in Berlin said Friday.
Niebel is to inspect German aid projects in Gaza including the Sheikh Ajleen sewage works which were restored at Berlin's expense. He would meet with Filippo Grandi, local chief of the UN refugee relief agency UNRWA, the announcement said.
Germany has refused to have any contact with Hamas since the Islamist movement seized power in Gaza.
The two ministers will be in the region Monday and Tuesday, with Westerwelle then continuing to Sudan for a three-day visit starting Wednesday.
'We believe that any standstill in the Middle East peace process at the present time represents a setback, given the changes in the Arab world,' Westerwelle's spokesman Andreas Peschke said in Berlin.
Westerwelle has an appointment with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and in Ramallah with Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas.
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