Denmark urges Israel to withdraw from the Palestinian territories

Denmark's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Per Stig Moller, whose country assumes the current rotating presidency of the European Union on Thursday urged Israel to withdraw from the occupied Arab territories.

In a joint press conference he held with the Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres, Moller said that the European proposals relayed to the Israeli side aim at achieving what he described as smaller steps forward instead of carrying out a big stride backward and consequently to build what he called confidence gradually between the Palestinian and the Israeli sides.

He added that the Euopean proposals also aim at guarnteeing the process that the Palestinian elections due to be held in January ( 2003) will be honest and in a calm atmosphere.

Peres, for his part, threatened of continued Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories as far as there is a danger to "Israel's security." He added that it is difficult to run a voting process and "bullets" simultaneously, noting that the elections can not be made under atmospheres of what he called "violence."

Peres also weclomed a European initiative aimed at rearranging meetings between the Israelis and the Palestinians that will later lead to convening an international peace conference at a higher level, considering that the best solution for finding out a peaceful solution for the conflict is to return back to the table of negotiations.