- Israel's settlement activity in the Palestinian territories
flies directly in the face of its commitments to the Middle East peace
"roadmap", Irish Foreign Minister Brian Cowan said here Thursday.
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- "The expansion of settlements is against international
law and stands in contrast to Israel's commitment to implement the roadmap,"
Cowan said during a lecture at Tel Aviv University.
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- "This issue of settlements has had a particularly
negative impact on EU-Israel relations," added Cowen, whose country
has assumed the rotating presidency of the European Union.
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- Under the terms of the US-backed roadmap peace plan,
Israel is obliged to freeze settlement activity but the government of Prime
Minister Ariel Sharon has continued to issue tenders for the building of
apartments in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
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- Cowan, who arrived early Thursday on a two-day visit
aimed at exploring ways of kickstarting the moribund peace process, said
it might be necessary to rethink the initial demands laid out in the first
phase of the roadmap.
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- "Maybe the initial steps are too steep to be taken
in one go," he said.
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- "The road to peace and security lies in the roadmap
but it has not been properly implemented," he said of the blueprint
which lays out steps to end the nearly 40 months of bloodshed in the region
and create a Palestinian state by 2005.
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- "A democratic and viable Palestinian state is the
best guarantee for Israeli security," he added.
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- Earlier in the day, Cowan met with Sharon, Israeli Foreign
Minister Silvan Shalom and President Moshe Katsav.
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- He will meet with opposition leader Shimon Peres early
Friday before returning home, the Irish embassy said.
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- The minister said he would return to the region later
in the year to meet with senior Palestinian officials.
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- Late last month, Israel's interior ministry published
statistics showing the population of Jewish settlements in the Palestinian
territories has grown by 16 percent since Sharon came to power in March
2001, bringing the overall number of settlers to 236,000.
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- http://www.eubusiness.com/afp/040115200050.vdk588qn
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