December 11, 2001	Tuesday	Ramazan 25, 1422

BRUSSELS, Dec 10: The European Union branded Palestinian groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad “terrorist networks” for the first time on Monday and demanded that Palestinian President Yasser Arafat call an end to armed attacks on Israel.

EU foreign ministers said in a statement the Palestinian Authority should commit itself immediately to “dismantling the terrorist networks of Hamas and Islamic Jihad, including the arrest and trial of all suspects; a public appeal in Arabic for an end to the armed Intifada”.

They called on Israel to “withdraw its armed forces and stop extra-judicial killings (of Palestinian militants), lift the closures and restrictions imposed on the Palestinian people, freeze settlement (in the West Bank and Gaza), end the destruction of Palestinian infrastructure”.

The ministers mandated EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana to travel to the Middle East on Monday night to try to persuade Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to end reciprocal violence and return to peace talks.

Solana will report back to an EU summit at the Brussels royal palace of Laeken on Friday and Saturday.

The statement significantly shifted the EU position on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict closer to US views, under the impact of a wave of suicide bombings in Jerusalem and Haifa in the last 10 days.

Diplomats said the ministers overcame the reluctance of some European governments to name Hamas and Islamic Jihad and demand an end to the Intifada, which began in September 2000.

The EU ministers met Palestinian International Cooperation Minister Nabil Shaath on Monday and were due to meet Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres later to press for an end to the cycle of violence and retaliation.

The statement called for joint efforts by the EU, the United Nations, the United States and Russia to bring about a resumption of peace negotiations without delay and without preconditions.—Reuters