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AMMAN, Aug 29: German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer said on Sunday that a solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict, the stabilization of Iraq and regional reforms were necessary to ensure Europe's security.
"When we talk of our security as Europeans, we are talking about the future of our neighbours the Middle East," Fischer told a joint news conference in Amman with Jordanian Foreign Minister Marwan Moasher.
"If things are going badly wrong in the region, it will hurt our interests immediately and security immediately," he said before heading into a meeting with King Abdullah II on the Middle East conflict and Iraq.
The Jordanian monarch expressed hope that Europe and the United States "take action to reactivate the peace process" between Israel and the Palestinians, the official Petra news agency reported.
At the news conference with Moasher, Fischer spelled out three conditions to ensure a prosperous and peaceful Middle East and guarantee Europe's security - reforms, solving the Middle East conflict and stabilising Iraq.
"If you put all three together it is quite clear we need American leadership, America in the driver's seat," Fischer said. "But ... this cannot be done alone by the United States, Europe will play an important role."
Fischer admitted that the three issues would be "difficult" to solve. "To have a real breakthrough it is difficult, it is complicated. Sometimes it seems to be impossible but I don't see a real alternative.
"Therefore we have to work continuously." He also called on Iran to work closely with the European Union to resolve its standoff with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
"We are in intensive talks with Iran ... (and) we are really serious to find a way out," Fischer said. "We hope the Iranian leadership in Tehran will not miscalculate the situation," he said, warning that failure to solve the issue "would be the beginning of a nuclear arms race in the region.
Under pressure from the IAEA, Iran agreed last year to suspend enriching uranium but it has resumed the assembly of centrifuges, begun uranium conversion and commenced the building of a heavy water reactor.
GAZA PLAN: Germany said on Sunday an Israeli pullout from the Gaza Strip could be a breakthrough in the Arab-Israeli conflict if it were part of a US-backed peace plan.
Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer said he would discuss the "disengagement plan" to remove all 8,000 Jewish settlers from Gaza, where they live in fortified enclaves among 1.3 million Palestinians, with Israeli leaders in Jerusalem on Monday.
"We have come to the conclusion that the unilateral withdrawal and the complete dismantling of settlements in Gaza, if it's done in a proper way and part of the roadmap, it could be a real breakthrough to the peace process," Fischer told reporters.
Under the Gaza plan, four of the 120 settlements in the West Bank - home to about 240,000 settlers - would also go by next year. But Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon intends to hold on to an arc of larger enclaves there.
Fischer said the European Union remained committed to the roadmap - stalled for more than a year by violence on both sides - as the only way to end years of Arab-Israeli enmity.
Fischer said Washington could not achieve peace there alone. "We need American leadership and American diplomacy on the one hand but on the other side I don't believe this could be done alone.
When we talk about our security we are talking about the future of our neighbour region, the Middle East," he said. Europe's own interests were at stake, Fischer added. -AFP/Reuters
