Moratinos condemns Israeli assassination of Palestinians
Egypt-European Union, Politics, 8/18/2001

Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmad Maher held a meeting on Thursday with European Union (EU) envoy Miguel Moratinos in presence of the Belgian Ambassador to Egypt whose country currently chairs the EU.

"Egypt and the EU are determined to maintain close contacts as part of wide contacts being held by the Union with the two disputing sides, the Israelis and the Palestinians," said Moratinos in statements following the meeting.

"Any initiative appealing to the two warring sides is welcome, not only to cease fire but to put the Mitchell Recommendations into effect as well," said Moratinos.

He said the EU proposed to assist the Palestinians in combating "terrorism," taking into account that it should be carried out from a political perspective for the Palestinian people.

He said that the Union is keen on normalizing the situation in the Palestinian territories.

Moratinos said that he discussed ways to forge a mechanism for a third way that would streamline a cease-fire implementation.

"The European Union is moving quietly to help the Palestinian Authority attain a cease-fire," said the EU Envoy, hoping no more violence or attacks would take place.

"Talks with Maher also tackled the economic situation in Palestine," said Moratinos, adding the EU was continuing to offer financial assistance to the PA out of conviction that a powerful Palestinian Authority was the best guarantee for security and development in the region.

He condemned the assassination policy adopted by Israel against Palestinian activists.

Replying to a question by the Middle East News Agency (MENA) on how the Palestinian side could implement the security aspect mentioned in the Mitchell report after Israel had destroyed the Palestinian security infrastructure, Moratinos said the Palestinian and Israeli sides have voiced full commitment to applying the Mitchell recommendations.

"We hope the Palestinians would implement their side of the agreement despite the deterioration of their security apparatus," said Moratinos.

On Israel's reaction towards the current European activities, he said that Israel has voiced appreciation for Europe's political and diplomatic role.

"Europe has never assumed this intensive role before, but it does not have a magic wand to get out of this impasse that has never been witnessed since the launching of Madrid conference," he added.

He remarked that although the European side was exerting 100 percent efforts, nothing has yielded fruits yet, and this could mean that efforts should be augmented to 120 % to reach the aspired goal.

He said his meeting with Satterfield will come after their meeting with the parties concerned in the region in a bid to find a solution.

Maher conferred on Thursday with US Mideast Envoy and Deputy Assistant Secretary of State David Satterfield within the context of his current tour of the Mideast.

In statements following the meeting, Satterfield said his talks with Maher were very good as they discussed a number of issues related to the region and bilateral relations.

About his meeting with EU Mideast peace envoy Miguel Moratinos, Maher said that talks covered the situation in the region and the outcome of Moratinos' contacts with all sides to end violence.

Maher described as very "serious" the situation in the region.

He added that the Arab foreign Ministers would meet next Wednesday at Arafat's request.

About proposals to hold a Madrid-Style conference, Maher said there are some proposals to hold such a conference but still it is not settled yet.

Concerning his meeting with the Sudanese Information Minister, Maher said the meeting dealt with activating the Egyptian-Libyan initiative aiming at achieving reconciliation in Sudan.

Maher said an Egyptian-Libyan meeting will be held in Cairo at expert level on means to activate the initiative.

"Egypt and the EU are determined to maintain close contacts as part of wide contacts being held by the Union with the two disputing sides, the Israelis and the Palestinians," said Moratinos in statements following the meeting.

Any initiative appealing to the two warring sides is welcome, not only to cease-fire but to put the Mitchell recommendations into effect as well, said Moratinos.

He said that the EU proposed to assist the Palestinians in combating "terrorism", taking into account that it should be carried out from political perspective for the Palestinian people.

Previous Stories:
  Maher starts visit to France, Italy   (7/24/2001)
  Egypt FM speak on the telephone with German counterpart, EU officials   (7/16/2001)
  EU officials seek fast track for Egypt's Association agreement   (6/29/2001)

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