Chinese UN observer's coffin sent home

The body of Chinese UN observer Lt. Colonel Du Zhaoyu, who was killed last week during an Israeli air raid on Lebanon, was brought home on Wednesday morning.

Du's coffin, covered with Chinese and UN flags, was carried from the plane by eight Chinese soldiers.

His widow Li Lingling, who had flown to Israel to bring Du's body home, walked in front of the coffin, holding a framed picture of Du in her hands.

Du called her on July 25 and told her he was pretty safe in Lebanon just a few hours before Israel's bombing, a friend of Du's family told Xinhua.

Du's parents and his baby son, who had his second birthday on Monday, waited at the airport. The little boy slept soundly in a relative's arms as his father's coffin was lifted from the plane.

The Chinese People's Liberation Army Assistant to Chief of General Staff Zhang Qinsheng and China's Assistant Foreign Minister Cui Tiankai led an array of Chinese military and government officials at the airport.

Over 100 Chinese army officers in uniforms and with their service caps in their hands stood to attention as Du's coffin was carried from the plane to a hearse.

A Lieutenant Colonel in the Chinese People's Liberation Army, the 34-year-old Du was sent to Lebanon last December as a UN observer.

The Chinese government has strongly condemned Israel's July 25 attack on the UN peacekeeping post in southern Lebanon, which also killed three other UN observers from Finland, Austria and Canada.

China has also demanded Israel carry out thorough investigations into the attack and apologize to China and the victim's families.

Some 180 Chinese military officers and engineers as well as three observers, of whom Lt. Colonel Du was one, were working in southern Lebanon, as part of the UN peacekeeping mission, according to diplomatic sources.

Israel has expressed deep sorrow and regret over the incident, but denied it was deliberate.

Israel has intensified its air raids on Lebanese targets since launching a massive assault on July 12 after Lebanon's Hezbollah guerillas kidnapped two Israeli soldiers and killed eight in cross-border attacks.

So far Israel has rejected an immediate ceasefire in its Lebanon offensive.

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan on Sunday pledged to probe the deaths of the four UN military observers, saying that questions still surrounding their deaths must be answered.

Source: Xinhua