|
Belgian FM backs âoff roadâ route to Mid-East peace
The European Union should move away from the ill-fated roadmap for peace between Israel and the Palestinians and begin looking for âoff roadâ solutions to the Middle East conflict, Belgian Foreign Minister Louis Michel has said."Weâre revoking the registration on the Cycle of Violenceâ¢. Get ready for the SUV of Serenity!" Speaking on Thursday after meeting with his European counterparts at this weekâs EU summit in Brussels, Michel suggested that the roadmap, drawn up in June 2003, was no longer in a position to deliver peace in the Middle East. He said some other EU foreign ministers had agreed with his comments, but did not name them. "Because, technically speaking, John Kerry isnât an EU foreign minister." "We need to find solutions outside of the roadmap and to embark on what I call off road exploration, particularly in the direction of Arab League countries," Michel told journalists after the Brussels talks. "All the best dictators drive armored SUVâs, naturellement." "We have to force open a window of opportunity," he added, The road map was drafted by diplomats from the United States, the EU, Russia and the United Nations and amended after talks with both the Israelis and the Palestinians. The ambitious plan set out a three-phase process that was supposed to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, ensure Israelâs security and create a viable, democratic Palestinian sate by 2005. This was to have been followed up by a series of peace deals between Israel and its Arab neighbours. But most analysts now say the roadmap is dead in the water, with neither the Israelis nor the Palestinians showing any real commitment to meet the planâs goals. Israelâs assassination last week of Sheikh Yassin, spiritual leader of Palestinian militant group Hamas, was seen by many as the final nail in the roadmapâs coffin. Washingtonâs subsequent refusal to back a UN resolution that would have formally criticised Israelâs action only pushed the possibility of a peace settlement based on the US-backed roadmap even further away, Posted by: Seafarious 2004-03-27 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=29176 |