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International statement on the Middle East
Posted: Wednesday, April 10, 2002
The following statement was made after today's meeting in Madrid of leaders from Europe, Russia, the United Nations and the United States:
"The Secretary-General of the United Nations Kofi Annan, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, Igor Ivanov, Secretary of State of the United States, Colin Powell, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Spain, Josep Piqué and High representative for European Union Common Foreign and Security policy, Javier Solana, met in Madrid today. We reviewed the escalating confrontation in the Middle East and agreed to coordinate our actions to resolve the current crisis.
We express our grave concern about the present situation, including the mounting humanitarian crisis and the growing risk to regional security. We reiterate our shared condemnation of violence and terrorism, express our deep distress at the loss of innocent Palestinian and Israeli life, and extend our deepest sympathy to the families of those killed and wounded. Believing that there has been too much suffering and too much bloodshed, we call on the leaders of Israel and the Palestinian Authority to act in the interests of their own people, the region, and the international community and to immediately halt this senseless confrontation.
In this regard, we express our grave concern about the most recent attacks from Lebanon across the UN-determined Blue line. The Quartet calls on all parties to respect the blue Line, halt all attacks, and show the utmost restraint . The conflict should not be allowed to spread and threaten regional security and stability.
The UN, EU and Russia express their strong support for Secretary of State Powell's mission, and urge Israel and the Palestinian Authority to cooperate fully with his mission and with their continuing efforts to restore calm and resume a political process.
We reiterate that there is no military solution to the conflict and call on the parties to move towards a political resolution of their disputes based on UNSCR 242 and 338, and the principle of land for peace -which formed the basis for the Madrid Conference of 1991. We re-affirm our support to the objective expressed by President Bush and spelled out in UNSCR 1397, of two states, Israel and Palestine, living side-by-side wthin secure and recognized borders. We warmly welcome Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah's peace initiative, as endorsed, in Beirut by the Arab League, as a significant contribution towards a comprehensive peace, including Syria and Lebanon.
To enable progress towards our shared goals, we reaffirm that UNSCR 1402 must be fully implemented immediately, as called for in UNCSR 1403. We call on Israel to halt immediately its military operations. We call for an immediate, meaningful cease-fire and an immediate Israeli withdrawal from Palestinian cities, including Ramallah, specifically including Chairman Arafat's headquarters. We call on Israel to fully comply with international humanitarian principles and to allow full and unimpeded access tu humanitarian organizations and services. We call on Israel to refrain from the excessive use of force and undertake all possible efforts to ensure the protection of civilians.
We call on Chairman Arafat, as the recognized, elected leader of the Palestinian people, to undertake immediately the maximum possible effort to stop terror attacks against innocent Israelis. We call on the Palestinian Authority to act decisively and take all possible steps within its capacity to dismantle terrorist infrastructure, including terrorist financing, and to stop incitement to violence. We call on chairman Arafat to use the full weight of his political authority to persuade the Palestinian people that any and all terrorist attacks against Israelis should end immediately security coordination with Israel.
Terrorism, including suicide combs, is illegal and immoral, has inflicted grave harm to the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinian people and must be condemned as called for in UNSCR 1373.
We call on Israel and the Palestinian Authority to reach agreement on cease-fire proposals put forward by Gen. Zinni without further delay. We commend the efforts of Gen. Zinni to date to achieve this objective.
The Quartet stands ready to assist the parties in implementing their agreements, in particular the Tenet security workplan and the Mitchell recommendations, including through a third-party mechanism, as agreed to by the parties.
We affirm that the Tenet and Mitchell plans must be fully implemented, including and end to all settlement activity. We affirm that there must be immediate, parallel and accelerated movement towards near-term and tangible political progress, and that there must be a defined series of steps leading to permanent peace - involving recognition, normalization and security between the sides, and end to Israeli occupation, and an end to the conflict. This will allow Israel to enjoy enduring peace and security and the Palestinian people to realize their hopes and aspirations in security and dignity.
In support of these objectives, we call on the International community, particularly the Arab states, to preserve, strengthen and assist the Palestinian Authority, including through efforts to rebuild its infrastructure, security and governance capacity. We call also in the donor community and the international financial institutions to renew their commitment to provide urgent humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people, and to assist in economic and institutional reconstruction. We pay to the courageous efforts of the humanitarian agencies.
We agreed on the need to keep the situation in the Middle East under review by the Quartet at the principal's level through regular consultations. Our special Envoys will continue their efforts on the ground to assist the parties in reaching and end to confrontation and resumption of political negotiations."
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