(Adds countries Sarkozy will visit, paragraph 2) By Crispian Balmer PARIS, Dec 31 (Reuters) - French President Nicolas Sarkozy said on Wednesday he would visit the Middle East early next week to try to restore peace to the region, despite Israel's rejection of a French initiative for a ceasefire in Gaza. He will travel to Egypt, the Palestinian territories and Israel on Jan. 5 and Syria and Lebanon on Jan. 6. It will be the first such trip to the area by the leader of a major power since Israel launched air strikes against the Gaza Strip five days ago and marks a clear effort by Sarkozy to play an influential part in Middle Eastern affairs. Sarkozy has played a prominent role on the world stage in recent months, thanks largely to France's tenure of the rotating presidency of the European Union, allowing him to act in the name of the 27-member bloc. The Czech Republic takes over the EU presidency at midnight, but Sarkozy made it clear he would stay focused on the world's trouble spots and try to carve out a role for French diplomacy. "France will continue to act in Africa and Asia and, of course, in the Middle East, which I will visit from Monday, because it is France's vocation to seek the path of peace," Sarkozy said in an address on French television. His office said he would meet Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Cairo, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Jan 5. The following day he will see Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus and Lebanon's prime minister and president in Beirut. HUMANITARIAN TRUCE Israel launched air strikes against Gaza five days ago in retaliation for rocket attacks from the Hamas-controlled territory and has appeared to step up preparations for a possible ground offensive against Hamas. France called for 48-hour truce to let in humanitarian aid for Gaza's 1.5 million residents, but Israel has brushed off the idea as "unrealistic". Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni is due to meet Sarkozy in Paris on Thursday. A political source in Israel told Reuters Livni would stress that "we do not need ceasefires right now". Sarkozy enhanced his international image in August when he swiftly intervened after Russian forces invaded Georgia, brokering a ceasefire between the two sides. France is anxious for Europe to play a bigger part in the Middle East and Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner persuaded his EU counterparts to attend an emergency meeting on Gaza in Paris late on Tuesday. The ministers joined international calls for an "immediate and lasting" ceasefire between Israel and Hamas and for humanitarian aid to be delivered to Gaza. While some EU states have criticised the Israeli attacks as disproportionate, the United States has firmly put the onus on Hamas to stop firing rockets as a first step to a truce. (Editing by Andrew Dobbie)
REFILE - QUALITY REPEAT Palestinian Christians attend a special prayer for peace in Gaza, at the Family Latin church in the West Bank city of Ramallah December 31, 2008. Israel on ...
