Palestinian minister: no alternative to the national unity

EU Foreign Policy chief Javier Solana met with Palestine Authority Minister of Foreign Affairs Ziad Abu Amr in Brussels today and discussed the latest developments in Palestine.

Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Abu Amr called on the international community to end the siege of the Palestinian people.

"We don't have alternative to the national unity government. I'm not really worried about the future of the national unity government. But something has to be done to help end the security chaos in Palestine and more particularly in Gaza," he said.

"It's important that Israelis release our money that they hold back, we need this money to alleviate the social, security and economic problems, and we call upon the international community to end the political and financial siege on the Palestinian government and people," said the minister.

On his part, Solana said "It would be very difficult to move forward politically if the situation internally among the Palestinians has not a good level and security is not guaranteed." Solana said he intends to travel to the region soon.

On Monday Abu Amr attended the meeting of EU foreign ministers with some of their counterparts from the Arab League in Brussels.