China angry about personnel killed in Israeli air attack

China has demanded that Israel apologize for an attack in Lebanon that killed a Chinese UN observer as President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) offered his condolences to the victim's family.

Hu "relayed his deep condolences and expressed his sympathy and solicitude for the victim's family," the Chinese Foreign Ministry said in a brief statement posted on its Web site on Wednesday.

He also expressed concern about the safety of other Chinese nationals in Lebanon, the statement said.

An Israeli bomb destroyed a UN observer post with four staff inside on Lebanon's southern border on Tuesday. China's official Xinhua News Agency identified the Chinese fatality as Du Zhaoyu (杜兆宇), a member of a UN peacekeeping mission.

"We are deeply shocked by this incident and strongly condemn it," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao (劉建超) said in a statement on the ministry Web site.

The three other observers in the post were from Austria, Canada and Finland. Two of them had been confirmed dead and another was feared dead, UN military officials said, without giving specifics.

Du was part of a group of 182 Chinese military peacekeepers sent to Lebanon in February and April, Xinhua said. The deployment marked the first time China had sent peacekeepers to the Middle East, state media reported earlier this year.

"I'm very sad," said Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing (李肇星), in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where he was attending a regional conference.

"We should try harder to call on the parties to be restrained and to be calm and restore the peace process of the Middle East immediately," Li said.

apology demanded

The Chinese Foreign Ministry statement said Israel's ambassador to Beijing was summoned on Wednesday morning and asked to convey Beijing's request that Israel fully investigate the incident and issue an apology to China and the victims' families.

The statement also called on Israel to ensure the safety of UN peacekeepers in Lebanon.

Nadav Eshcar, the political and press officer with the Israeli Embassy in Beijing, said that during the meeting, Ambassador Yehoyada Haim "expressed profound regret" for the deaths and assured Chinese officials that the incident was being investigated.

"Israel does not target UN personnel," Eshcar said. "In this kind of situation many things can happen, some very unfortunate."