April 10, 2002
The United Nations, the United States, the European Union and Russia issued a joint statement Wednesday urging Israel to withdraw from Palestinian territories and for both sides to call an immediate end to the fighting.
``We call for an immediate, meaningful cease-fire and an immediate Israeli withdrawal from Palestinian cities, including Ramallah, specifically including Chairman (Yasser) Arafat's headquarters,'' U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan told a news conference. ``We call on Israel to fully comply with international humanitarian principles and to allow full and unimpeded access to humanitarian organizations and services.''
Annan was speaking after a four-way meeting in Madrid with U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov, EU foreign and security chief Javier Solana and Josep Pique, Spain's foreign minister whose country holds the EU presidency. Powell -- touring North Africa, the Middle East and Europe at a time of the worst Israeli-Palestinian fighting in decades -- said in Cairo Tuesday he planned to see Palestinian leader Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon this week.
He also offered U.S. observers to monitor a truce he hoped to broker. The participants of the talks in Madrid reflect the sort of broad-based international alliance the EU wants to drive peace efforts, arguing Washington has lost its clout as a peace broker.
In the past, Israel and the United States have rejected an EU role in peacemaking. Last week, Sharon refused to see a high-level EU delegation and also barred it from meeting with Arafat at his Ramallah headquarters, which is surrounded by Israeli troops.
In the background of the Madrid meeting, Germany was drafting an ambitious blueprint for peace that will be formally presented to a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg on Monday. It calls for a cease-fire and withdrawal of Israeli troops, followed by an early declaration of a Palestinian state, an end to Jewish settlements in Palestinian areas, and phased talks on such tricky issues such as Israel's borders and the status of Jerusalem, the German government said.
It also provides for international peacekeepers to patrol a buffer zone between Israel and the Palestinian areas. The plan combines elements of U.S. and Saudi proposals but notably ``departs from the principle of small steps and looks much more toward the final status,'' Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's office said.
As Israel keeps up its assault, several Arab nations have said they plan to boycott an annual meeting of EU and Mediterranean countries on April 22-23. The meeting is part of a long-term EU effort to provide billions of dollars in aid to Israel and its neighbors to underpin the peace process. That process is now in tatters.
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