Kindgo
Advanced Member
Member # 2
|
posted
web page
EU nations broadly endorse Danish-drafted 'roadmap' to Mideast peace
By GIL HOFFMAN, LAMIA LAHOUD, AND NEWS AGENCIES
HELSINGOER, Denmark
The European Union nations on Saturday endorsed a roadmap to Mideast peace that Danish Foreign Minister Per Stig Moeller will discuss with governments in the region next week, including Israel and the Palestinian Authority.
EU spokesperson Sam Magid said the EU foreign ministers, wrapping up a two-day meeting Saturday, "gave broad support to the plan. The ministers agreed that the European Union must stay engaged" in the search for peace between Israel and its Arab neighbors.
The EU plan breaks no new ground but is a variation of previous ideas that have found broad support in the international community. The ultimate goal is the creation of a Palestinian state by 2005.
The first phase, leading up the January Palestinian elections, comprises efforts to reach an Israeli-Palestinian agreement to stop violence, create one Palestinian security service and discuss the role of PA Chairamn Yasser Arafat.
In the second, post-election phase temporary borders, a new administration and a new constitution should be outlined.
The last phase -- running from mid-2003 to 2005 -- would be devoted to settling the three largest obstacles: Jerusalem, the return of the Palestinian refugees and definitive borders.
The EU roadmap is meant to put flesh on the bones of as scenario outlined by US President George W. Bush for a Palestinian state to be a reality by 2005 at the latest.
Bush has called for a Palestinian state, but also Palestinian reforms and a new leadership in the Palestinian Authority.
Moeller on Thursday said he would visit Saudi Arabia on Monday, Egypt on Tuesday, and Israel and the Palestinian Authority areas on Wednesday, where he said he expects to meet both Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and PA Chairman Yasser Arafat. "Things are moving slowly but they are moving," Moeller said.
American officials intend to prepare a plan of action that will result in the creation of a Palestinian state by the summer of 2005, US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State David Satterfield told Israeli officials on Thursday.
Satterfield met on Thursday with Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, Chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. Moshe Ya'alon, and former justice minister Yossi Beilin.
He told Beilin that the American plan, based on the guidelines set by Bush, would not be based on target dates but on specific obligations that must be met by the Israelis and Palestinians for both sides' benefit.
Ben-Eliezer and Satterfield discussed ways to bring about a change in the policy of terror being pursued by the PA and the issue of PA reforms.
Ben-Eliezer emphasized that two basic reforms must be carried out regarding the policy of terror on the one hand and the PA's finances on the other.
He detailed the "Gaza-Bethlehem first" plan and noted that he intends to continue working toward its implementation.
Regarding the northern front, Ben-Eliezer said that Israel is witnessing continuing attempts to provoke it and perpetrate attacks, adding that it must be made clear to Syria and Lebanon that such attempts are "playing with fire."
The two also discussed the Iraqi threat.
Ben-Eliezer met on Thursday with the Council of Jewish Communities in Judea, Samaria, and the Gaza Strip on the issue of outposts and lack of security in the settlements, according to council spokesperson Yehoshua Mor Yosef.
PA Interior Minister Abdel Razak al-Yahya and PA National Security Adviser Muhammad Dahlan canceled their meeting Thursday with Ben-Eliezer, citing the killing of four Palestinian civilians, including a mother and her two sons, by IDF tank fire in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday.
Dahlan said the PA would only resume its meetings with the Israelis once Israel has ordered a real investigation into the deaths of the four civilians.
However, other PA officials said they believe the meeting would resume very soon, some even suggesting that the meeting would still be held Thursday night.
--------------------
God bless,
Kindgo
Inside the will of God there is no failure. Outside the will of God there is no success.
Posts: 4320 | From: Sunny Florida | Registered: Jun 2002
| IP: Logged | 
|
Printer-friendly view of this topic
