Maher calls on Sharon to stop escalation policy against Palestinians
Egypt-Israel, Politics, 12/6/2001

Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher has called on Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to stop escalation policy against Palestinians and to resume negotiations immediately with the aim of reaching a final settlement, which could guarantee the achievement of security for both Israel and Palestinians.

Maher said in press statements yesterday that he had called on Secretary of State Colin Powell to bring pressures to bear on Israel so that it may stop measures it is taking against the Palestinian people and leadership.

Speaking to Radio Cairo from Washington Wednesday, Maher said he told US Secretary of State Colin Powell when they spoke over the telephone Tuesday, that Washington had to intervene to stop the cycle of violence and call on Israel to halt its practices against the Palestinian people and their leadership.

Maher said he telephoned Powell on the plane while on his way to Europe and that he asked him to press Israel to stop its practices against the Palestinians and to act on the basis of the speech he made last month on his vision of peace in the Middle East.

Powell, he added, expressed readiness "to cooperate with us and considered it necessary that the two sides adopt the measures that would calm the situation, but he placed on the Palestinian side the greater share of responsibility for the latest escalation."

"He also called on both sides to do their utmost efforts to escape this cycle of violence," he said.

Maher said Palestinian Minister of Planning Nabil Shaath telephoned him to brief him on the gravity of the situation in the Palestinian territories in light of the Israeli attacks.

The matter that has stirred widespread is the brutal attack on Palestinian Leader Yasser Arafat in person and on the Palestinian Authority and attempts to hold it responsible for the measures Israel is practicing against Palestinians, he added.

"The attacks on Jerusalem and Haifa were denounced at the highest levels, one must not stop here, but examine the causes that have led to all this deterioration and to treat them," he said.

He stressed the need to enter into serious negotiations concerning the final settlement.

"Only a final settlement can bring security to Israel and Palestine and stability to the region," he said.

The Israeli repression has not brought it security in the past months, and will not bring it in the future, only a mutual understanding and restoration of rights could bring security, he added.

According to reports from Jerusalem and Gaza the Israeli government has threatened to continue to attack PNA targets and other targets if no tangible change was detected in its efforts against Hamas and Islamic jihad through undermining infrastructures of the two movements.

Israeli military sources said occupation troops were preparing for striking PNA targets.

However, it was not possible for them to attack their goals as a result of the bad weather conditions.

The Israeli sources claimed that the latest military operation did not target Arafat personally nor were they aimed at undermining the PNA, but were just a message to Israel.

Israel has addressed warnings after a new guerrilla operation in Western Jerusalem which left seven Israelis killed and the martyrdom of the executor of the operation himself; Israel renewed warning to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat that it would not stand helpless towards what is going on.

A spokesman for the Israeli Foreign Ministry said this aggression is another evidence which confirms PNA use of terrorism for killing Israelis in Jerusalem streets and that Israel would not allow whom it calls killers to move freely in its streets.

In another developments, US administration officials said as the United States still recognizes Palestinian Leader Yasser Arafat as a leader of the Palestinian Authority, US President George Bush continues to urge Arafat to take repressive measures against Hamas and AL jihad.

Bush said in an interview with ABC station that there is no way for Israel to hold peace negotiations so long as the Israeli State continues to be exposed to terrorism.

Previous Stories:
  Maher underlines difference between terrorism and resistance   (12/1/2001)
  Jerusalem Post: US cruise missile sale to Egypt worries Israel   (11/30/2001)
  Egypt calls on Israel to give up nuke option   (11/19/2001)

Please add a link on your webiste pointing to ArabicNews.com and bookmark ArabicNews.com & subscribe to our daily email news bulletin.

Search