07/09/2006 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday, French Socialist Beatrice Patrie, President of the EP Delegation for Relations with the Mashreq (Middle East) met Leila Shahid in Strasbourg, the Palestinian delegate to the European Union (see related article) and the Israeli ambassador to the EU, with whom she stressed the need to lift the blockade on Lebanon. In a press release, Patrie explains that in a meeting with Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner, Patrie had called for the European Commission to deal with the question of de-mining the 15,000 mines scattered across Lebanon as a priority, and had been given a positive response.