Top EU Officials Meet With Arafat

Voice of America, November 17, 2001

A high level delegation from the European Union met with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in the West Bank town of Ramallah Saturday, part of a stepped up European effort to restart Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.

Palestinian officials welcomed the visit but said any European move would have to work in tandem with U.S. initiatives and they warned against raising expectations too high.

The delegation, headed by E.U. foreign policy chief Javier Solana, also includes EU commission head Romano Prodi and the current holder of the EU's rotating presidency, Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhosftadt.

The European leaders had sounded optimistic after an earlier meeting in Cairo with Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak. Mr. Solana said he hopes for positive news for the peace process in the coming weeks. What is needed now, he said, is the political will to pull the peace process forward.

Mr. Verhosftadt said Egypt and the EU are in agreement on the urgent need for stability in the region. He said both Israel and the Palestinians need to be pressed to put into motion the recommendations of a panel led by former U.S. Senator George Mitchell.

The Mitchell plan calls for a cessation of violence, a cooling off period and confidence building measures including a freeze on Jewish settlements in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

The European delegation is to meet with Israeli leaders Sunday. The EU officials then head to Jordan, Syria and Lebanon, for more talks in search of an end to nearly 14 months of deadly violence in the region.

Meanwhile, despite the start of the usually tense Islamic holy month of Ramadan, the Palestinian territories enjoyed their quietest night in months, with only sporadic shooting reported.

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