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Politics : WAR on Terror. Will it engulf the Entire Middle East? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Scoobah who wrote (1059)	12/4/2001 7:42:01 PM
From: Scoobah	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 32591

EU urges Israel not to destroy Palestinian Authority By Reuters BRUSSELS- The European Union urged Israel on Tuesday not to destroy the Palestinian Authority, saying the Jewish state still needed Yasser Arafat's autonomous administration as a peace partner and to fight extremism. Reacting to retaliatory Israeli missile strikes on Arafat's offices, helicopters and airstrip, a European Commission spokesman said: "While the right of the Israeli government to defend itself against terrorism is recognized, at the same time we call on Israel for a measured and proportionate response within respect of the rule of law." Officials said Belgian Foreign Minister Louis Michel, whose country holds the EU presidency, EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana and European External Affairs Commissioner Chris Patten held emergency telephone consultations on the crisis. "The Israeli government and the Israeli people need the Palestinian Authority to fight extremists and as a partner for peace," Patten's spokesman, Gunnar Wiegand, declared. The EU comment contrasted with an Israeli cabinet statement branding the Palestinian Authority a "terror-supporting entity", which paved the way for harsher retaliation against Arafat. Wiegand said the EU called on Arafat to take concrete and visible steps to arrest and bring to justice all those involved in "the odious terrorist attacks of last weekend", in which 25 Israelis were killed by suicide bombers in Jerusalem and Haifa. The EU also called on other countries in the region to do their utmost to avoid the conflict spreading more widely. The European reaction was close to a statement by U.S. White House spokesman Ari Fleischer that Israel had the right to act in self-defence, but EU leaders also stressed the need for a swift return to peace negotiations. Several EU leaders voiced deep concern at the dramatic escalation of Middle East violence and called for greater international pressure to restore peace. "The violence and military action has breached all limits," Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt said in Paris after talks with French President Jacques Chirac on Monday night. Verhofstadt said the international community needed to do everything to get the Israelis and Palestinians to begin peace talks again. "It is important now that the pressure is increased, on the U.S. side and European side and (from) the Russian federation," he said. French Foreign Minister Hubert Vedrine said Israel should drop "all the pre-conditions imposed and immediately start political negotiations with the Palestinians". It would be a fatal error to destroy the Palestinian Authority, he said. EU officials said they were trying to determine whether infrastructure built with EU financial assistance had been destroyed in the Israeli raids. One official said the Union had been involved in a project to build a cargo terminal at Gaza airport but not in building the runway, which Israeli bulldozers were reported to have torn up early on Tuesday.