Aznar calls in Gaza for implementing Wye River agreement

Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar has voiced support for the position advocated by Palestinian President Yasser Arafat in that Israel should honor its obligations in making progress in the Middle East peace process.

Aznar added that Israel has to honor its obligations and that there is no way but to implement all parts of the Wye agreement, which calls for an Israeli withdrawal in three stages from 13% of the West Bank.

Following a one and a half hours talk with Arafat in Gaza, Aznar told journalists that the European Union, in the Berlin statement which was released in May, called for the establishment of the pillars of durable peace on the ground of the land-for-peace formula.

He added, "The most important is the will for peace," and said he was hoping to know more after his meeting with Israeli Prime Minsiter Ehud Barak on Thursday. Aznar arrived in Gaza from Beirut on a tour which also led him to Amman and Damascus.