France and Britain Denounce Israel's Settlements

British foreign secretary Jack Straw and French foreign minister Hubert Vedrine denounced on Wednesday the Israeli settlement plans in the Palestinian occupied territories.

Straw and Vedrine also supported the deployment of international forces in the occupied Palestinian territories to protect civilians and set up a mechanism able to protect human rights in the area.

This came in two letters sent by the two European officials to the secretary general of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) Abdelwahid Balqziz.

The OIC secretary general had sent earlier several letters to foreign ministers of the permanent member states in the Security Council and to the United Nations secretary general on the serious situation in the occupied Palestinian territories and the sufferings of the Palestinian people from the Israeli aggressions.

Balqziz called on the security council five permanent member states to provide international protection for Palestinians.

A release issued by the OIC said Straw also condemned violence against Palestinians and settlements inside the Palestinian lands which is against international legitimacy and peace.

Straw said that peace based on the land-for-peace principle, ending occupation and establishing the Palestinian state is the only solution for Israel to live in peace in the present and future.

Meanwhile, the foreign minister of France called on for the implementation of all recommendations of the Mitchell report to solve the current crisis and pointed out the importance of deploying international forces in the Palestinian occupied territories.