Brussels, 24/01/2002 (Agence Europe) - "I believe that a joint position by the United States, a united Europe, Russia and other countries will be extremely efficient in helping the Palestinians to escape a chaotic situation that involves divided forces", declared Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres on Wednesday in a lengthy speech before the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. "We did not come to ask the parliament of the Council of Europe to be one sided and to be against the rights and the future of the Palestinians, but to save them from their own agony and their own mistakes and to bring an end to the terror". "Let us say, 'all right, let us negotiate', and at that minute terror will be stopped and terrorist groups will be outlawed", he went on. Shimon Peres also declared that "Israel's struggle is not against Palestinians but against terrorism". Doubting Arafat's will to make peace ("people say that Arafat is not interested in fighting a war, but if people think that Arafat is interested in making peace, why does he not make it?", he wondered), he also stressed that "as long as there are groups receiving orders from Syria and Iran (…) there will be no peace". "If Arafat does not stop the terror, the terror will stop him eventually", he warned.
The Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Walter Schwimmer, handed him a letter of condolence following the attacks perpetrated the day before in Jerusalem and a few days earlier in Hadera, in which he asks him not to engage in disproportionate reprisals.
For Erekat, negotiations must resume "without preconditions"
The Palestinian Minister for local authorities, Saeb Erekat declared before the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe on Thursday that "Palestinians and Israelis need the help of a third party that is the USA, the Council of Europe, the European Union, Russia and the UN", before adding: "It is time for their representatives to be amongst us there, not to make new proposals, but to plan the implementation of the Mitchell recommendations". He concluded by saying that he had gone to that tribune to "hold out our hand to the Israelis and say come back to the negotiating table without precondition. Every hour that passes without negotiation lengthens the lists of Israelis and Palestinians dead".