For several weeks, Germany's Federal Intelligence Service, or BND, in cooperation with Russian foreign intelligence service SWR, has used its channels in the Middle East in an effort to soothe tensions in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the Berliner Zeitung newspaper said Friday.

Government spokesman Ulrich Wilhelm Friday in Berlin did not want to give details on Germany's involvement.

"But since the release of the soldiers is one of the important preconditions for a solution to the current crisis... of course that's the goal one is working for," he said.

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier and his Russian counterpart, Sergej Lavrov, on June 29 in Moscow discussed the kidnapping of Israeli soldier Cpl. Gilad Shalit, who had been taken to Gaza four days earlier.

When two more soldiers were abducted on July 12, Steinmeier and Lavrov in an evening telephone conversation agreed to expand intelligence cooperation to free the soldiers, the newspaper said.

German officials have been successful before: In 2004, BND head Ernst Uhlau, who at the time was the intelligence coordinator in Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's office, managed a prisoner exchange between Hezbollah and Israel.

Israel at the time released hundreds of Arab prisoners in exchange for Hezbollah handing over a kidnapped Israeli businessman and the bodies of three soldiers.

Germany has been trusted for long in the region: In the 1980s, then Chancellor Helmut Kohl was asked to mediate in the quest for Ron Arad, who had been shot down over Lebanese territory. Arad, however, remains missing to this day.

A success in the BND/SWR mission could highly elevate the international standing of the German and Russian intelligence services. The BND could especially use some props, given that it is embattled by a parliamentary inquiry at home into its role in the war on terror, where it has been accused of using dubious methods.

There is no doubt Germany is getting involved: Steinmeier is expected to travel to the region soon, according to information from the foreign ministry. Some 3,300 Germans have been evacuated from Lebanon already, with more waiting to get out.

United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan and several international leaders had called for a U.N. force to stabilize the region during last weekend's Group of Eight summit in St. Petersburg.

On Friday, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was in New York to

meet with three U.N. envoys who recently returned from a Middle East mission to assess conditions there.

While supporting the idea of a U.N.-mandated force, Merkel has been quite cautious when it comes to German involvement. The Bundeswehr (Germany`s armed forces) already is a major contributor to the European Union`s mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and is playing a leading role in Afghanistan, where it is part of the International Security Assistance Force.

The Bundeswehrverband, a German soldiers` interest group, however, had strongly protested against German involvement in the Congo, claiming its resources were overstretched and that Germany had no interests in the region.

German Defense Minister Franz Josef Jung said Friday that the first priority should be getting Israel and Hezbollah to agree to a cease-fire. The Bundeswehr is not keen on having to shoulder yet another mission, but observers say it will be hard to say no given burden of Germany`s history with Israel.

'How should Germany react, if everyone says `yes`?' Gert Weisskirchen, a foreign policy expert of the Social Democrats, asked in the Berliner Zeitung. 'Saying `no` then would really no longer be an option.'

Berthold Meyer, a Middle East expert at the Peace Research Institute Frankfurt, Friday told United Press International in a telephone interview that Germany, given its past, will likely not turn its back on such a mission.

'I understood the Bundeswehr`s reluctance to take part in the Congo mission,' Meyer said. 'But this is different. We have a moral responsibility with Israel and in the region. I can`t imagine that the Bundeswehrverband will protest in the same way.'

But the force will have to be assembled very quickly to contain the escalating violence. Reports surfaced Friday that Israel is preparing a ground offensive into Lebanon, a move that would undermine any further stabilization efforts before they even begin.

The U.N. Security Council would have to make a decision Friday or later this weekend so the EU Foreign Ministers could discuss the resolution Monday during their regular session.

If called upon to participate in such a mission, German lawmakers would have to agree in parliament to send soldiers to the Middle East, a step that could further slow down any progress.

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