French President Jacques Chirac and visiting German Chancellor Angela Merkel Friday urged Israel to lift its sea and air blockage against Lebanon.

"The blockage is persisting and it is extremely harmful to Lebanon's economy," Chirac said at a joint news conference with the German Chancellor after their meeting at the French presidential palace L'Elysee.

"It is completely unjustified...We ask the Israelis to end this blockage," he said.

The deployment of the German ship off the Lebanese coast, as part of the enlarged United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon ( UNIFIL), "could be important in moving towards a lifting of the blockage," said Merkel.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said earlier this week that deploying a UN force rapidly in Lebanon would enable his country to lift the restrictions, which he said were needed to stop weapons reaching Hezbollah.

Source: Xinhua