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RHODES (Greece) May 2: The European Union urged Israel and Palestinians on Friday to start implementing the newly published “road map” and said it would lobby neighbouring states such as Syria and Iran to support the push for peace.
Meeting on the Greek resort island of Rhodes, the 25 foreign ministers of current and future EU member states also heard a call for the bloc to put aside its bitter divisions over the US-led war on Iraq and help rebuild the shattered country.
“(We) must press Israel to implement the road map without setting any conditions or demanding any changes and the Palestinians must guarantee security and put an end to suicide bombings and control extremist groups,” a Greek diplomat quoted EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana as telling the ministers.
The EU is part of the Quartet also embracing the United States, the United Nations and Russia which unveiled the “road map” earlier this week, envisaging a Palestinian state by 2005.
“The EU and the Quartet must have contacts with Syria and Iran to assist in ending help to extremist groups and contain them,” Solana was quoted as saying.
Swedish Foreign Minister Anna Lindh said it was important to get international monitors into the region, adding Washington — the only outsider trusted by Israel — must stay involved.
“It is important to act rapidly because the United States is having elections again soon and we know it is difficult for the United States to act in a crisis (amid elections),” she said.
For all the diplomatic flurry, the situation on the ground remains gloomy. On Friday, Islamic militants pledged revenge and shouted opposition to new Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas, also known as Abu Mazen, at a mass funeral for 11 Palestinians killed in an Israeli raid in the Gaza Strip.
Greek Foreign Minister George Papandreou told the ministers the EU should continue to talk to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, despite Israeli and US efforts to sideline him.
“My own view is that a boycott of Arafat is bad politics,” EU sources quoted Papandreou as saying. “Avoiding him would make Abu Mazen appear to be the appointee of those who want to boycott Arafat.”
BOMB DEFUSED: Israeli troops found and defused a 90-kilogram bomb on an army patrol road along the security fence between the Gaza Strip and Israel, military sources said.
The bomb was found near the Nahal Oz kibbutz, less than three kilometres from Gaza City.
Similar explosive charges have blown up Israeli tanks in the Gaza Strip several times in the past.
POWELL IN SYRIA: US Secretary of State Colin Powell arrived in Damascus on Friday for tough talks over Syria’s support for guerrilla groups and other policies Washington says do not fit in a changing Middle East, said a report from Damascus.
Powell will meet President Bashar al-Assad on Saturday to press Washington’s point that the ousting of Saddam Hussein and a possible resumption of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks create a “new strategic dynamic” in the troubled region.
“I will urge them to review these changes and take a look at some of their past policies and see if those policies seem to be relevant in the light of the new changed situation,” Powell told a news conference in Madrid on Thursday.
Syrian Foreign Minister Farouq al-Shara warned Powell in advance not to set demands, saying Syria wanted dialogue, not ultimatums, and that would be the basis of the talks.
Powell had nothing to say publicly during a brief visit to Albania on Friday about his Damascus visit.
Earlier, he said he expected a frank conversation with Assad and Shara, but no immediate results. “This will be a candid and useful discussion and I am looking forward to it but I am not looking for any particular deliverables,” he said.
It is Powell’s first sortie into the Middle East for more than a year and a prelude to a longer trip next week that will include talks with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and new Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas.
US officials say Powell wants to give Abbas time to settle into his new post before he visits.
The United States has a list of grievances against Syria, now the main Arab state holding out against the wishes of Washington’s Middle East ally Israel.
“If Syria wants to be part of that comprehensive (peace) solution, then it has to review the policies it’s been following with respect to the support of terrorist activities and the control they have over forces in Lebanon that present a threat to northern Israel,” Powell said on Wednesday.
Powell was unlikely to receive a welcome in Damascus like the one he enjoyed in Tirana, where several thousand Albanians — some waving US flags — greeted his motorcade.—Agencies
