Czech foreign minister to head EU mission to Gaza

On Sunday Czech Foreign Minister, Karel Schwarzenberg, is to head an EU mission to the Middle East to work towards a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, where Israeli air strikes have killed close to 400 people in an unprecedented offensive against Hamas radicals. Mr. Schwarzenberg has been consulting the matter both with Israeli and Palestinian leaders and EU foreign ministers. The mission is expected to include EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana, EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner and the French and Swedish foreign ministers. Meanwhile, French President Nicolas Sarkozy will visit Egypt and the Palestinian territories on January 5th and Syria and Lebanon on the 6th in a bid to secure a peace deal.