Friday, July 06, 2007

EU PAR CALLS FOR MIDEAST CONFERENCE

European Parliament president calls for international Mideast peace conference By Yossi Lempkowicz Updated: 04/Jul/2007 16:36


BRUSSELS (EJP)---The President of the European Parliament has called for the convening of an international Middle East peace conference under the ageis of the Quartet. I am convinced that in the current situation, we need a multilateral approach to solve the Mideast conflict, Hans-Gert Poettering said at a conference organized by the Socialist group of the European Parliament in Brussels on Tuesday.

Poettering, who visited several Mideast countries last month, urged Israel to support Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and to avoid previous failures to drive him into a corner. Israel must give Abbas the chance to regain the confidence of 65 percent of the Palestinians who elected him as president in 2006, he said. He also called on Israel to release the Palestinian legislators and other politicians arrested by Israel but made no reference to the fate of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.

Find its own voice

The two-day conference, entitled “Moving towards an international peace conference for the Middle East, was attended by politicians, academics and high-level experts.
Pasqualina Napoletano, vice-president of the Socialist group in charge of international relations, said The EU should find its own voice, including in the framework of the Quartet, in efforts aimed at restarting genuine negotations on the various tracks of the peace process.

In a communiqué issued at the end of the conference, the Socialist group said talks between Palestinians should be urgently revived to allow the formation of a new government in the spirit of reconciliation and national unity. International support for President Abbas should be accompanied by a concrete and realistic political plan leading to a permanent status agreement and an independent, democratic and viable Palestinian state living side by side with Israel, the statement added.