Abul Gheit stresses need to dispatch international troops to protect Palestinians

Egypt's permanent delegate to the United Nations Ambassador Ahmed Abul Gheit urged the international community to take swifter steps to send international troops to the region to protect Palestinians from "the barbaric Israeli aggression."

Addressing a seminar organized by the American "Seeds of Peace" Agency in New York Friday evening, Abul Gheit blamed' Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon for the current deterioration of conditions in the region.

Military force would not solve the dispute between the Palestinians and Israelis, he noted.

He said that the Israeli hawks should not be left to abort all efforts of peace.

He called for speeding up international steps to agree on a final formula for a would-be Palestinian-Israeli settlement to r restore some kind of trust between the two sides so as to allow them to return to the negotiating table.

The seminar was attended by American foreign relations officials and the Israeli consul in New York.

The seeds of peace were established ten years ago with the aim of bringing the Palestinian and Israeli youths closer.

In the United Nations, a poll made by the Time magazine showed that 60% of the Americans were supporting cancellation cutting down economic assistance to Israel if it continued reject US calls for withdrawal from Palestinian territories.

75% of Americans said Powell should meet Arafat, the poll indicated. Also, the poll indicated that majority of Americans has no confidence in both Arafat and Sharon.

Reports from London said the British government summoned the Israeli ambassador for the second time to the foreign office asking him that Israel should make an investigation into the killing of Palestinians in Jenin.

British Guardian newspaper reported that the British government decided to ban supplying Israel with military equipment that could be used in Palestinian regions.