EU, US working to put in place mechanism for truce

07/04/2001| IslamWeb

AMMAN, (Islamweb & Agencies) -European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana said Wednesday that Europe and the United States were striving to put a "mechanism" in place for a truce between Israel and the Palestinians based on the Mitchell Report.
"The European Union is very engaged and is trying to help as much as possible," Solana said after talks with Jordanian Foreign Minister Abdel Ilah Khatib and ahead of talks with King Abdullah II.
Solana is one of the authors of the report that recommended a ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinians followed by confidence-building measures to restore peace talks between the two sides.
But he reluctantly acknowledged that little if no progress had been made so far, declining "to qualify the situation as optimistic or pessimistic".
A truce mechanism could be based on the recommendation made last week by the leaders of the most industrialised nations, the Group of Eight (G8), who met at a summit in Italy.
The G8 endorsed the dispatch of international monitors to the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories -- meeting a longstanding Palestinian request.
But the move has met with stiff resistance from Israel which is opposed to any international forces, although Israeli leaders said they could agree to the deployment of some members of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat told Solana earlier in Gaza it was difficult to tell his people to stop the intifada while Israel continued its policies of "assassination. (Read photo caption below)
Their talks came as Israeli forces killed a Hamas militant they said was behind deadly bombings.
Solana has toured Lebanon, Syria, Israel and the Palestinian territories where he had similar talks with regional leaders.
A flat tyre on his plane delayed his arrival in Jordan by around three hours and a planned stop in Egypt was scrapped as Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak was in Germany, an aide to Solana said.
PHOTO CAPTION:
Palestinian President Yasser Arafat (L) shakes hands with European Union Policy Chief Javier Solana (R) after their meeting at Arafat's in Gaza Strip, July 25,2001. Solana urged Israel and the Palestinians to begin soon the implementation of the truce-to-peacemaking report prepared by U.S.-led Fact-Finding committee. REUTERS/Suhaib Salem