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http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/732490.html Last update - 16:41 28/06/2006 EU: Israel and Palestinians must step back from brink before crisis By News Agencies The European Union urged both Israel and the Palestinians on Wedndesday, to "step back from the brink" and allow diplomacy to resolve the crisis caused by the abduction of an Israel Defense Forces soldier by militants in the Gaza Strip. "All sides need to consider their responsibilities extremely carefully," EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner said in a statement on Wednesday, after IDF troops moved into the Gaza Strip, shelling targets and bombing power stations and a bridge. "Both sides need to step back from the brink before this becomes a crisis that neither side can control," Ferrero-Waldner warned. The IDF operation was aimed at pressuring militants to release IDF soldier Corporal Gilad Shalit, captured during a cross-border raid on Sunday. The militants have demanded that all Palestinian women and children held in Israeli jails be set free. Wednesday's EU statement demanded that the Palestinian militants immediately release Shalit, saying that keeping him would only make things worse for the Palestinian people. "It is unacceptable to seek political goals by such means," Ferrero-Waldner said. She reiterated a call for those holding Shalit to free him, and urged Israel to "act with prudence," in order to allow for the success of diplomatic efforts to secure his release. Ferrero-Waldner expressed concern about the IDF shelling that had disrupted electricity supplies in much of Gaza, saying vital services such as hospitals also had been affected. "Everything must be done to prevent the humanitarian situation from worsening," she said. Austria, the current president of the EU, also called for the IDF soldier's "immediate and unconditional release." Austria urged "the Palestinian leadership to undertake all necessary efforts in this regard" and called on all parties to show restraint and to "avoid further escalation." In his weekly House of Commons question session, British Prime Minister Tony Blair said Wednesday that the IDF offensive in Gaza demonstrated the importance of restarting the peace process, "which is the only way to stop events like the terrible events of the last 24 hours." "In the end, what is necessary obviously is to make sure that peace and calm is restored so that there's some possibility of getting negotiation going," he said. Blair said he still wanted to return to the long-stalled road map peace plan drafted by the Quartet, which is made up of the United States, the United Nations, the European Union and Russia. In Paris, France's Foreign Minister denounced the use of force by both sides saying the crisis could only be solved through a political dialogue. Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said he still believed it was possible to restart the stalled peace process, and pointed to the announcement Tuesday of a Palestinian plan that implicitly recognizes Israel. He described the plan, hammered out by rival Hamas and Fatah movements, as a "significant step forward." In Tokyo, the government said it was reevaluating a trip by Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi to the Middle East next month, following reports of the Israeli incursion into Gaza. The Japanese leader was expected to visit Israel and the Palestinian territories before attending the G8 summit of industrialized nations in mid-July in Russia. But the recent spike in violence may alter those plans, Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe said. "At this stage, we have not decided on what to do," Abe said. "In any case, various things occur in this region, so we need to constantly keep a close watch." -- "A war is just if there is no alternative, and the resort to arms is legitimate if they represent your last hope." (Livy cited by Machiavelli) -- Ed Kent 718-951-5324 (voice mail only) [blind copies] http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CollegeConversation http://groups.yahoo.com/group/PeaceEfforts http://groups.yahoo.com/group/EndingPoverty http://groups.yahoo.com/group/440neighborhood http://groups.yahoo.com/group/StudentConcerns http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AcademicFreedom http://groups.yahoo.com/group/PrivacyRights http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Israel_Palestine http://BlogByEdKent.blogspot.com/ http://www.bloggernews.net |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| pnews-news - (NEWS) - Send "subscribe" or "unsub" in subject to pnews-news-request(at)inyourface.info pnews-views - (VIEWS) - Send "subscribe" or "unsubscribe" as subject to pnews-views-request(at)inyourface.info |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| Everything begins at The Worm Hole: http://pnews.org/ ----- Something Really Nice for your Honey - http://blackhillsg0ld.com/ Something Really Sexy for Her for Holloween: http://tinyurl.com/q878y --------------------------------------------- NEVER pay for a podcast again: Check it out - http://tinyurl.com/mnr7r -----
