JERUSALEM / ISRAEL: Turkey's Gul meets Israeli defence minister while investigation into Israeli recent military operations in Lebanon begins

Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul met Israeli Defence Minister Amir Peretz on Sunday (August 20) in Jerusalem. Peretz said he hoped Turkey would become part of the International force in southern Lebanon. "I also intend to ask the Foreign Minister who arrived here, and we congratulate him for that, the Turkish foreign minister, I ask him to consider the possibility that Turkey would participate in the international force, and I will ask him to do whatever he can to be an active partner in the international demand that the kidnapped Israelis would return home as part of the deal", Peretz said. Gul arrives in Israel for talks on Turkey's involvement in peacekeeping and reconstruction efforts in southern Lebanon after a UN-backed ceasefire ended a month-long war between Israel and Lebanese Hizbollah guerillas. Elsewhere, in the coastal city of Tel Aviv, Israel launched its inquiry panel into the war in Lebanon. The panel which is headed by former Israeli Army Chief of Staff Amnon Lipkin-Shahak, will only investigate the Israeli military system during the month-long operation and not the government functioning.

ITN Source | August 21, 2006

Tags:. .meets. .during. .system. .hoped. .between