Chirac dissatisfied with critical Middle East situation
Palestine-Israel-France, Politics, 5/18/1998

French President Jacques Chirac on Sunday stressed that security will not be realized in the Middle East region without achieving peace, adding that he is sorry for the critical situation in the region despite the peace process obligations made in Madrid and Oslo.

In a news conference on Sunday, Chirac called for putting pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to force him to accept the U.S.proposal on Israel's withdrawal from 13 percent of the West Bank. Chirac continued: "We support the U.S. proposal which is the least thing the Palestinians may accept, and we hope that Israel realizes that any postponement will increase tension and threaten security and peace."

On Saturday, the French President said that any delay in resuming peace negotiations with the Palestinians will be a grave issue. Chirac, who was talking to radio Orient, did not hide his dissatisfaction with the critical situation in the Middle East, noting: "There are some U.S.attempts and plans to achieve peace.."

Chirac talked about the U.S. ideas concerning the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, adding that although the U.S. plan would offer a smaller troop withdrawal from the West Bank than the Palestinian have asked for, Netanyahu refused the proposal.

Previous Stories:
  Netanyahu is back: conditional acceptance of 13% pullout   (5/18/1998)
  Palestinian intellectuals rally in Paris   (4/30/1998)
  Arafat and Annan meet to discuss peace process   (3/23/1998)

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