Israelis 'shunned' peace deal
[ This one for all the UN lovers here.HAR! ]
AFP October 15, 2002
ISRAEL could have already achieved peace with the Palestinians if they had complied with a number of United Nations resolutions, the European Union's External Relations Commissioner, Chris Patten, said yesterday.
"Israel is not complying with a number of Security Council resolutions," Mr Patten told reporters after talks with Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher.
"I think it is extremely regrettable," Mr Patten said. "I think if it had complied with Security Council resolutions, we might well have had peace some time ago."
Mr Patten did not specify which resolutions he meant but, following Israel's siege last month of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's Ramallah headquarters, the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 1435.
It called for not only lifting the siege, which was relaxed on September 29, but also demanded from both sides "the complete cessation of all acts of violence, including all acts of terror, provocation, incitement and destruction".
The resolution also demanded "the expeditious withdrawal of the Israeli occupying forces from Palestinian cities . . . to the positions held prior to September 2000", when the Palestinian uprising broke out.
Mr Patten was due to meet Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak yesterday with a view to establish Egypt as an associate partner of the EU. |
