GERMAN CABINET APPROVES TROOPS ABROAD

The German Cabinet crossed a psychological Rubicon today, voting to send planes and 1,500 troops to aid the U.N. mission in Bosnia. If the parliament approves, German soldiers would be sent into their first potential combat mission since World War II.TIME Bonn Bureau chief Bruce Van Voorstsays the vote, scheduled for Friday, will almost certainly be a thumbs up: "This has tremendous support in the governing party, and a good deal of support in the opposition as well." Germans had long interpreted their post war constitution as prohibiting sending soldiers to other countries. But in recent years Chancellor Helmut Kohl's government has sought a greater military role for Germany in U.N. peacekeeping exercises. A court ruled last year that the constitution did not preclude sending troops abroad so as long as it had the approval of parliament.