Germany set to contribute troops in Lebanon-report

BERLIN, Aug 14 (Reuters) Germany's ruling coalition has agreed to contribute troops to a Lebanon peace force following the truce between Israel and Hizbollah, a newspaper reported today, despite concerns over Germany's Nazi past.

Citing government sources, German daily Der Tagesspiegel said that at party level, Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives had agreed with their Social Democrat coalition partners last week to make troops available if necessary.

Because of its Nazi legacy, Germany has particularly sensitive ties with Israel and there has been intense debate about whether to allow German soldiers to serve in the region.

Earlier today, government spokesman Thomas Steg said that the cabinet would discuss the matter next week.

''At the end of this week I am sure there will be more clarity about the nature and details of this force,'' he said.

Asked about the Tagesspiegel report, a government spokesman said he had nothing more to add to what Steg had already said.

In a preview of an article due to be published on Tuesday, the paper said the parties envisaged allowing the navy to be used to patrol coastal waters off Lebanon and Israel -- a move that might lower the potential risk of clashes with Israelis.

The U.N.-brokered truce between Israel and Hizbollah guerrillas started on Monday after five weeks of fighting, and world powers were set for intense talks on contributions to an international force of 15,000 foreign troops.

The question of whether to dispatch soldiers 60 years after Adolf Hitler's Nazi regime wiped out 6 million Jews has sharply divided Germany, and is seen as a big challenge for Merkel.

KEY DECISION ''The decision on whether to send German troops is likely to be one of the key foreign policy decisions of Merkel's chancellorship,'' said Constanze Stelzenmueller, director of The German Marshall Fund of the United States in Berlin.

''It's very difficult because it is practical politics where there is probably no right decision.'' Merkel, back from a hiking holiday in the Alps to battle a slide in poll ratings and splits in her party, has been non-committal until now, arguing it is too early to decide.

The issue of deploying German troops to South Lebanon offers Merkel, who has been criticised in some quarters for a lack of leadership, an opportunity to reassert her authority but also presents her with a number of risks, say analysts.

Israel has said it would welcome German participation. Many in Berlin say it would be impossible, given German history, to rebuff the Jewish state by refusing to send in soldiers.

Kurt Beck, Social Democratic leader, said this weekend Germany was ready to contribute. But his party, which rules in coalition with Merkel's conservatives, is not united.

The opposition liberal Free Democrats and Left Party both oppose a German role, while the Greens are also sceptical.

''If there is one area of the world where German soldiers have no place, it is the Israeli border,'' FDP leader Guido Westerwelle told the Saarbruecker Zeitung.

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